BRIEFS: Card Bank Partners with Bayad Center

Card Bank Inc. recently teamed up with CIS Bayad Center Inc. the country’s premium and pioneer in over-the-counter transactions facility, to enable clients to settle their payments through Bayad Center branches and authorized payment partners nationwide.

Card Bank Inc., is a microfinance oriented rural bank established in Laguna in 1997, and accepting bills payment collection services, money remittance, e-loading and ticketing for existing members and the unbanked market.

Through the partnership, more than two million clients across the country will enjoy the convenience of paying their loan payments through any of the 30,000 payment locations powered by Bayad Center.

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) was once again a hands-down winner of the Best Digital Bank – Philippines award at the Asiamoney Best Bank awards 2019 held in Singapore on Wednesday, securing the highly coveted recognition for the third year in a row.

Its three consecutive wins since 2017 were a natural result of its revolutionary digital innovations to remain competitive in the financial services space while simultaneously enhancing customer experience and enabling sustainable financial inclusion.

“Its rivals like to say that UnionBank, led by its president and chief executive officer Edwin Bautista, is more talk than action. But the bank can justifiably point to a long list of innovations, eclipsing all other institutions in the country,” said leading financial publication Asiamoney — a division of the global media group Euromoney.

Moreover, in its latest edition, Asiamoney identified its 30 financial institutions to watch out for in Asia, and UnionBank is among the five on its radar in the digital banking category.

UnionBank kicked off its digital revolution in 2016, launching among others, EON — the first selfie-banking in Asia that uses facial recognition technology; The ARK — the first fully digital bank branch in the Philippines, Chatbot Rafa — the country’s first banking chatbot and UnionBank Online — an app which allows clients to bank from the comforts of their home or office. In just two years, the bank’s transformation was cited as the best in the region by Euromoney.

Brother Philippines partners bai Hotel Cebu tie-up

Photo show (from left) president of Brother Philippines Glenn Hocson, VP for operations and general manager of Bai Hotel Cebu Alfred Reyes, corporate sales manager of Brother Philippines Joel Eugenio, corporate sales executive Roxanne Clerigo and operations manager-information technology, Jose Canete.

Brother International Philippines Corp. announces its partnership with bai Hotel in Mandaue City, Cebu that will allow the home and business product manufacturer to become a more ecology-friendly workplace.

Beginning 1 October, bai Hotel Cebu — which already relies on the brand for their printing needs through the latter’s Print Smart Plus (toner management program) — will utilize the environmentally-friendly features of their Brother MFC-L5900DW and MFC-L8900CDW multifunction printers at the premises, including Power Save Mode, paper reduction through the use of automatic back-to-back prints, among others.

Brother, which has long placed a premium on having their products be eco-friendly and sustainable, will be working closely with the bai Hotel’s IT department this month to ensure their employees may easily use these features at all times, and will also be conducting a product orientation to instruct the staff on how to use them.

Beyond this, Brother is also expanding its environmental awareness to all of its partners and implement this sustainability initiative in all their other corporate clients who are currently enrolled in their Green Project Program. The Green Project Program is an optional additional service that provides more eco-friendly solutions to Brother Corporate Clients.

Metrobank bags Best Managed Funds of the Year award

The Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) is recognized in the Peso Medium-Term Bond Category at the recent Best Managed Funds of the Year Awards by the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society of the Philippines.

With its win, Metrobank bested almost 90 funds from 16 competing investment houses and trust institutions who joined the search.

The bank is commended for its Metro Max-3 Bond Fund, a peso-denominated intermediate-term unit investment trust fund (UITF) that aims to achieve income and potential returns that are higher than regular deposit products for its participants. This is done through investing in a diversified portfolio of peso-denominated fixed income securities with a maximum weighted average duration of three years.

“One of our backbone promises is to provide our partners with the right investment product that fits their needs. Furthermore, we want to support them with the best strategy to build their wealth with the least risk possible. This recognition from the Best Managed Funds Awards inspires us to further strengthen this commitment and provide more meaningful solutions and services for our customers,” says Metrobank president Fabian Dee.

Embodying the global standard of excellence in the investment industry, the CFA Society of the Philippines pioneered the Best Managed Funds of the Year Awards in 2016 to raise the level of investment awareness among retail investors. It recognizes high-performing funds open to the public based on their risk-adjusted returns.