Stakeholders in Subic can now pay their port dues online through Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s (SBMA) Electronic Billing and Payment System (eBPS).
eBPS, carried out in partnership with Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), allows Subic Bay Freeport locators, residents, and seaport users to access, view, and print their online billing statements.
Payment to Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. is not part of the eBPS since the Subic port operator has its own billing system.
Payments can be made online via an automatic debit arrangement using the person’s LBP account or ATM card for a minimum service charge of P25 per transaction for peso-denominated billings and US$0.75 per transaction for dollar-denominated billings.
SBMA in an advisory to locators and residents said the project is part of its continuing efforts to improve its services.
Information and value-added service provider InterCommerce Network Services, Inc. (INS) was tapped to deploy the service.
The eBPS allows SBMA to upload monthly billing statements electronically and send email notifications to locators or residents, INS president Francis Lopez told PortCalls in a text message.
For seaport users, Lopez noted that SBMA is still working on uploading billing statements by transaction, rather than by batch involving five or more transactions.
The eBPS is not yet mandatory, but Lopez noted that it gives users “the convenience and cost savings” because “they no longer have to pay to the SBMA cashier (or) over the counter.”
For SBMA, it eliminates handling of cash, facilitates revenue collection, improves cash flows, and makes reconciliation and generation of reports for audits easier.
SBMA employee-locators pilot-tested the system and found it convenient, Lopez noted.
To avail of the service, the user should go to SBMA’s website (www.mysubicbay.com.ph), click on the SBMA-eBPS logo, and complete the online registration process.
SBMA will introduce the new system in a public forum on October 25 and hopes to fully implement the electronic distribution of billing statements by January 2017.
Lopez said Phase 2 of the project will allow payment through other Bancnet banks. – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of jk1991 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
