Photo shows PLDT HK Community manager Greg Matubis; I-Remit HK’s May Tsui; and PLDT HK Marketing Manager Karlo Benasa officially launch the Free Bee payment service at I-Remit’s branch in Hong Kong. PLDT Global Corp. (PGC) recently teamed up with remittance company I-Remit to launch its Free Bee payment service worldwide. This means that overseas Filipinos in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy and other parts of the world can now make Free Bee payments with zero service fees. The partnership was launched at the I-Remit World-Wide Plaza branch in Hong Kong, kicking off a series of events to take place in Singapore, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Italy. Free Bee is an ad-based calling app that delivers a two-minute free international call to the Philippines. It is a game changer for overseas Filipino workers because they can reach their families in the Philippines who may not have an internet connection or a smartphone. For longer calls and ad-free experience, users have the option to buy Premium Free Bee voice call plans at affordable rates from global retailers or via in-app and online purchases. Free Bee has also recently been recognized as Telecom Asia’s Most Innovative Voice Solution. This partnership enables customers to save more time since they can make Free Bee payments while doing financial transactions like remittances, bills payment, and government payments at I-Remit branches. And, as part of PGC’s digital initiative, Free Bee payments will allow users to have their Free Bee buckets directly credited to their accounts without having to use physical cards.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. president and CEO Eugene Acevedo and LenddoEFL Managing Director Mark MacKenzie (center) have signed an agreement to integrate Know Your Customer processes for RCBC’s DiskarTech virtual bank. They are joined by (from left) RCBC Retail Banking Group’s Lhan Bendal, Retail Banking Group Head Richard Lim, chief innovations and inclusion officer Lito Villanueva, LenddoEFL Sales Director Judity Dumapay and RCBC Retail Banking Group’s Em Valdes. RCBChas sealed a partnership with LenddoEFL for faster and more convenient financial account opening for Filipinos through an end-to-end digital verification and authentication solution. To date, know your customer processes have always required a face-to-face or real-time online interview to onboard bank customers.