ATM in Puerto Galera

by Martyn Willes, Puerto Galera Yacht Club News on 17 Aug 2006 For years now the only way for visiting/cruising sailors to access cash in Puerto Galera has been through a couple of 'tourist centers', where (for a fee) you could obtain a cash advance on a credit card. Otherwise it was along trek across to Batangas Port and the best part of a day on a ferry. Now you can drop by to the Atlantis Resort on Sabang Beach or the Rural Bank of Puerto Galera in the town and put your 'flexible friend' into the new hole in the wall.

The project is a partnership between the Export Industry Bank (Makati City) and the Rural Bank Of Puerto Galera, and enabled by a technology group headed by Encash Inc.

According to Ms. Marga Estabanlar, Business Development Manager for Encash Inc., the ATMs will accept cards from all the major ATM networks in the country (Bancnet, Megalink, Expressnet etc.) plus VISA. The machines are wireless and use the PLDT Smart wireless network technology, which overcomes the challenges of landline connection in rural areas. The ATMs themselves are the latest EMV ('Europay Mastercard Visa') machines, capable of accepting both magnetic stripe and microchip cards.

To overcome the frequent power outages that have plagued Puerto Galera since the removal of the power barge in Minolo Bay a couple of years ago, each ATM is provided with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that will ensure any transaction initiated before the mains power failed will be completed . . . although this does assume that the Smart wireless network did not fail at the same time.

N.B. If there is a fault with the ATM in Sabang please don't blame Atlantis Resort - according to Andy Pope, Atlantis Resort only provides the location.