Sunday, March 11, 2007

Taking Advantage Of The PDIC Insurance



The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation or PDIC guarantees every bank depositor that their deposit is insured if and whenever a bank goes under up to a deposit of P250,000 or its equivalent in dollars. How do we take advantage of this? By investing in rural banks and thrift banks that offer interest rates far beyond what our current and more well know commercial and savings banks are offering.

In our present business environment, loan rates have taken a big dive down which means those looking to take out a loan whether be it housing, car, equity or personal loans are at an advantage in our current situation. But since loan rates have gone down, deposit rates have also taken a big nose dive. Top commercial banks have already taken steps to reduce a normal savings account rate from the previous 1% p.a to 0.75% p.a and time deposit rates are at an all time low. Even savings banks have adopted this trend of lowering rates. Bad news for retirees and people who rely on time deposit interest to pay for their monthly expenses such as food, utilities and other expenses.

This is where investing in rural banks and thrift banks becomes very attractive. Some offering as high as 16% p.a or double your money in 6 years in which monthly interest rates are credited to a savings account which can be withdrawn anytime. But before you go rushing out and placing your entire life savings in these banks be warned. Most of these banks have names you probably have never heard before like rural bank and thrift bank of so and so, usually a name of a city or province in the Philippines. And these banks have a high risk of going under. This is where the PDIC insurance of P250,000 comes in handy.

Having experienced getting my money from PDIC, from banks that have closed before. I'm in the position to say that the trouble is worth the returns you are getting. I got my money from a closed bank in about 2 weeks from PDIC. Just make sure your total deposit at any given time in a thrift or rural bank does not exceed 250k. If you have lots of money don't forget to diversify them in different thrift and rural banks, each not exceeding the PDIC limit. And make sure that the banks you are depositing into are really PDIC insured which can be verified by a quick phone call or by visiting the PDIC website. Lastly, read lots of news papers or browse the website of the PDIC to keep yourself up to date on what is the current state of the banks you have your money deposited in.

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