History
BancNet was founded on July 17, 1990 as the Philippines' second ATM consortium when the ATMs of eight banks, PCI Bank (now Banco de Oro), Security Bank, Chinabank, RCBC, Allied Bank, Metrobank, International Corporate Bank (now part of UnionBank), and Citytrust Savings Bank(now part of BPI), formed BancNet. Other members have since joined.
It was a brainchild of three senior bank officers namely: Ramon C. Arceo, Jr., SVP of Philippine Commercial International Bank(PCIBank), Carlos Pedrosa, SVP of Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (Metrobank), and Jose F. Santos, SVP of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC).
In 1993, BancNet signed an interconnection agreement with MegaLink to give cardholders whose banks are part of either network access to any of their ATMs, which total more than 4,000 nationwide.
In that same year, BancNet introduced the Bills Payment product which allows BancNet cardholders to pay their bill and make donations to charitable organizations using any BancNet ATM. This function has since been extended to the online payment gateway, mobile phones, and on EFT-POS terminals.
In 1994, BancNet introduced the Point-of-Sale System, to serve the retail payment requirements of cardholders. This was the same year that the brand name BancNet Payment System was introduced.
In 1997, BancNet started offering website hosting, email and surfing services to member banks at affordable rates.
In 2002, BancNet started its online banking and payment gateway system which can be accessed through http://www.bancnetonline.com.
It was during the anniversary business forum of 2002 that BancNet introduced Interbank Funds Transfer, reportedly the first consortium-run automated transfer facility in the region. The product allows real-time, online transfer of money among the members of BancNet using either the payment gateway, the ATM or a cardholder's cellular phone.
A partnership with Globe Telecom, the second largest telecoms company in the Philippines, in 2006 allowed BancNet to expand ATM-like functions to the mobile phones of cardholders. This was followed by a similar agreement in early 2007 with Smart Communications, the dominant telecoms company, for mobile banking.
Other products that BancNet maintains for the member banks include SSSNet for the online payment processing of personal and corporate contributions to the national social security system and Tax Payment Gateway for the online processing of corporate tax payments. A similar online system for the national housing fund (PAG-IBIG Fund) and the national health fund (PhilHealth) is expected to be launched in early 2010.
A Memorandum of Agreement was signed in 2007 with Nationlink (interbank network), admitting the latter as the first network alliance member of BancNet. This allows all the rural bank members of Nationlink to enjoy the convenience of electronic banking on 8,000 ATMs and more than 10,000 Point-of-Sale terminals nationwide.
Read more about this topic: BancNet
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“We have need of history in its entirety, not to fall back into it, but to see if we can escape from it.”
—José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955)
“Three million of such stones would be needed before the work was done. Three million stones of an average weight of 5,000 pounds, every stone cut precisely to fit into its destined place in the great pyramid. From the quarries they pulled the stones across the desert to the banks of the Nile. Never in the history of the world had so great a task been performed. Their faith gave them strength, and their joy gave them song.”
—William Faulkner (1897–1962)
“Universal history is the history of a few metaphors.”
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)