SBCorp Board plans for MSMEs
Small Business Corporation (SBCorp), an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), recently held its strategic planning session geared towards the growth and development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME’S) amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the devastation left by typhoon Odette in the Visayas and Mindanao. In photo (Standing L-R) are Directors Bong Magpayo, Jacob Vasquez, Jude Doctora and Arnold Galdo. (seated L-R) Director Bing Go, Acting Chairperson DTI Usec. Bles Lantayona and President Luna Cacanando. Not in photo are Directors Manny Bendigo and Annie Candelaria.
Troo appoints new president
Troo, the life insurance joint venture between EastWest and the Ageas Group, appointed Glenn Williams as its new president and chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1, 2022.
Williams succeeds Dominik Smeets, who has been reassigned as First Deputy General Director at MB Ageas Life, the life insurance joint venture of the Ageas Group in Vietnam.
Before his new role, Williams served as Troo’s chief finance and risk officer.
With nearly 30 years of experience in the industry and the last 22 years in Asia, Williams will continue to steer the company, leveraging on EastWest’s network and the global insurance expertise of Ageas.
Troo also added two new members to its senior management team: James Delong will fill the newly created role of chief distribution officer while Zhen Chen will be filling in the role of chief finance & risk officer vacated by Williams.
EdNation launches BET sa Balota
BET sa Balota, a voters’ guide to candidates’ education efforts was launched by Education Nation 100 days before the election.
BET (Boto sa Edukasyon at Trabaho) sa Balota aims to inform the public about the candidates’ initiatives, stances, and platforms specific to improving the quality of education for all Filipinos. Candidates will be evaluated based on the 10-point education agenda of the Education Nation, a coalition of organizations and individuals that aims to elect leaders who will put quality education for all at the heart of the government’s development agenda.
Expect to see BET sa Balota’s posts on various social media channels between now and election day, where voters can see what candidates have said so far about education, what they actually did, and the status of their promises. For the next three months,
EdukNaman’s social media pages will feature Ansabe?, Anyare?, Ano raw? Ano na?, a series of presidential and senatorial candidates’ past pronouncements and actions, assessment of their education commitments, stances, and plans or the lack thereof, and monthly progress reports on education issues.
Anyare? and Ano raw? will commence on February 7 (every Monday) and February 9 (every Wednesday and Friday), respectively; while the first monthly progress report for Ano na? shall be on February 28.
InstaPay enhanced
InstaPay — powered by BancNet — services has been enhanced through the payments expertise of Mastercard and technology of Vocalink (a Mastercard company).
The partnership was first announced in 2019. With the enhanced InstaPay service, Filipinos can now make transactions by simply scanning a QR code or using the receiver’s mobile number or email address.
These payment options will make it easier for more consumers to access the digital economy for day-to-day necessities when they send money to people and pay merchants across different banks and e-wallets. By removing the need to share bank or wallet account details, these payment innovations also provide consumers with a greater sense of security that comes with not having to divulge personal details.
The enhanced InstaPay experience provides consumers with additional payment options that are built on global ISO 20022 data standards. The ISO 20022 payments messages enable transactions to be processed with fewer errors or delays, and less manual interventions, making it more efficient and cost effective for financial institutions. For consumers, this also means transactions are more seamless and secure.
Optum Ph awarded
Optum Global Solutions Philippines, a health services innovation company, clinched the 2020 Outstanding Exporter Award at the 2021 Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Excellence Awards and, in another annual event, was also recognized by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) during its yearly Contact Island’s Conference for the company’s exceptional story featuring its VR-enabled Learning Program.
As a recipient of PEZA’s Outstanding Exporter Award, Optum yielded stellar results in export sales with an average 26.5 percent in growth from 2018 to 2020. Following the criteria for the award, the company’s notable efforts in maintaining its level of productivity while boosting its export of services helped Optum achieve a double-digit growth rate while maintaining its good standing as a corporate citizen.
At the 2021 Contact Islands Conference hosted by CCAP, Optum’s VR-enabled Learning Program was also selected under the Knowledge-based and Technology-focused people development program category.
Customer centricity in banking
Union Bank of the Philippines and US-based data and artificial intelligence (AI) services provider TripleBlind recently held a webinar on collaborating with AI tools in financial service.
The bank’s chief data & AI officer Dr. David Hardoon, and head of AI Center of Excellence Dr. Adrienne Heinrich, discussed the importance of customer centricity and collaboration in providing data and AI-driven solutions to customers.
Hardoon presented customer centricity as a very important component of banking and finance, as this mindset will enable banks and other financial solutions providers to create products and services that are more personalized and address customers’ unique
Heinrich noted solutions providers should consider value-adds for clients to enable them to have customer relationships in a more holistic way. This would assist clients in their areas of interest or in what they want or need to spend money for.
Zuellig Pharma supports booster dose rollout
Zuellig Pharma Corp., the official Philippine pharmaceutical partner of Moderna TX Inc., continues to urge the general public to get their booster shots to protect themselves against the evolving pandemic. Preliminary data from lab tests in a Moderna study showed that a 50-µg booster dose increased “omicron-neutralizing antibodies” by approximately 37-fold.
According to Dr. Philip Nakpil, medical director of ZP Therapeutics, it is optimal to deploy additional protection to lessen the impact of future surges caused by new variants.
Raymund Azurin, senior vice president for Corporate Affairs of Zuellig Pharma Asia Pacific, said they will continue to work closely with Moderna to ensure that more needed mRNA vaccines will be made available in the Philippines to fully support the government’s vaccination program.
Best Fixed Income House
First Metro Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, was awarded Best Fixed Income House by the Fund Managers Association of the Philippines (FMAP) in their Bankers and Brokers Poll 2021.
First Metro vice president and head of Local Markets-Debt Securities Trading, Dave Ignacio Estacio, was also commended as Best Fixed Income Trader – Local (second place).
FMAP honors the best analysts, economists and sales people as chosen by its member institutions for both the fixed income and equities markets. The criteria are the performance: dedication, quality of service and workmanship that both the fixed income and equities personnel give and provide to their clients — the fund managers – the sector that they serve.
Airbnb guest support program
Airbnb has announced a new way of supporting guests as they navigate the unexpected impact of a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, via the launch of its Guest COVID Support Program.
The company is introducing the Program to provide relief to guests no longer able to proceed with their previously booked reservations due to unexpected travel disruptions caused by government mandates – such as border closures or mandatory extended quarantine requirements.
For guests in these situations who are unable to obtain full refunds under their Hosts’ cancellation policies, Airbnb will provide relief in the form of a travel coupon for 50 percent of the cost of the unrefunded portion of the reservation.
This program is effective immediately, and applies retroactively to reservations that have a check-in date on or after Dec. 1, 2021 and had to be cancelled by the guest due to border closures, government mandates and certain other Omicron-related travel restrictions not in effect at the time of booking. If guests had reservations for stays with check-in dates on or after December 1, and they had to cancel in advance of check-in due to unexpected travel disruptions caused by government mandates, they are eligible for relief under this program.
This program is meant to support guests who have encountered extreme and unexpected government-mandated travel disruptions due to Omicron and through no fault of their own.
