Landbank and the Department of Finance (DOF) have launched Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) – which is said to be the first digital-only branchless government bank in the Philippines.

OFBank will allow its clients to conduct banking transactions anytime and from anywhere in the world, virtually.

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The virtual bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Landbank. It leverages digital onboarding system with artificial intelligence (DOBSAI) to offer real-time account opening on a mobile app.

It allows the overseas Filipinos (OFs), overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their beneficiaries to submit all requirements online for opening an account.

They only need to upload a valid identification (ID) card, which will be compared with a real-time ‘selfie’ they submit.

By using DOBSAI, the bank offers three types of accounts to its customers.

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These include the OFBank Visa Debit Card for OFs and OFWs, the OFBank Visa Debit Card for beneficiaries, and the OFBank Debit Card for beneficiaries below 18 years old.

These fee-free accounts are said to be interest-bearing savings accounts and they do not require a minimum deposit or maintain a monthly average daily balance (ADB).

However, to earn interest, these accounts need to have a minimum balance of PHP500 ($10.04).

OFBank Chair Borromeo said: “Despite the global health crisis besetting the country today, our government remains true to its commitment to upholding the welfare of all Filipinos abroad and their families.

“The launch of OFBank today as a digital-only, first branchless Philippine bank is a testament to this.”

OFBank account holders can use the mobile app for fund transfers, which is said to be free of charges.

However, Interbank fund transfers come with a service fee of PHP25 for each transaction via InstaPay and PHP15 while paying through PesoNet.

OFBank president and CEO Martin said: “As the OFBank becomes fully digital, we aim to better serve the banking and financing requirements of our kababayans abroad, as well as their families here in our country.”