CARD Bank celebrates 24th anniversary amid pandemic

CARD Bank branches celebrated its 24th anniversary on September 1, 2021, highlighting the importance of saving during the pandemic with the theme “Continuous Poverty Eradication through Digital Financial Inclusion”.

Leaders of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) including CARD MRI Founder and Chairman Emeritus Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip, CARD MRI Managing Director Aristeo A. Dequito, CARD Bank President and CEO Marivic M. Austria, CARD Bank Executive Vice Presidents Ms. Lourdes B. Dijan and Ms. May S. Dawat, and CARD Bank Senior Management Advisers Dr. Dolores M. Torres and Ms. Lorenza DT. Banez, as well as members of the Executive and Management Committee, advisers, staff, and clients attended the virtual celebration.

As part of the anniversary celebration, CARD Bank held a series of activities including programs that featured the importance of savings. The Bank also rewarded its top depositors and “Maagap Most Disciplined” during the celebration.

CARD Bank President and CEO Marivic M. Austria expressed her gratitude to CARD Bank clients for staying with them through the challenges of the past two decades, especially with the pandemic underway. “We are happy to celebrate our 24th anniversary with our clients, especially after being through a lot of challenges this past year,” shared Austria. She continued, “Even through these adversities, our clients still stayed with us and helped us reach this milestone. For this, we are thankful,” Austria said.

CARD MRI Managing Director Aristeo A. Dequito added that the celebration was a symbol of the bank’s significant step to provide hope in the new normal. “Changes in our community due to pandemic led us to cope with the current situation and remain productive, healthy, and safe by following the safety protocols to prevent transmission of COVID-19.”

He further explained that this is now the time to change the traditional way of banking and to explore the advanced technology to be more active and smarter in the long years ahead.

In this regard, Dr. Alip mentioned CARD MRI’s strategic direction for the next 10 years and CARD Bank’s role in bringing this to fruition. “As CARD MRI works on our 10-20-80 strategic direction, we seek the help of our Banking Group, including CARD Bank, to reach 20 million clients and provide them with the best services using our digital technologies. We will continue to develop and strengthen our digital initiatives, especially now that konek2CARD proves to be of great use for our clients when it comes to online selling, e-payments, savings, and credit delivery.”

CARD Bank hopes to support the marginalized communities in the Philippines through its microfinance services and other social development initiatives. Since its establishment on September 1, 1997, CARD Bank already served more than 3 million clients in 98 branches nationwide.