Tag: Philippines

Philippines — Long-standing health and fitness franchise Anytime Fitness has launched a new digital platform, AF Connect, which features personalized coaching that provides curated fitness, nutrition, and recovery guidance with convenient accessibility. The digital platform was launched last April 1 and offers a 7-day free trial for applicants.

The AF Connect platform features selected and organized workouts with global fitness brand, Les Mills, as well as blogs and entries about keeping a fit and healthy lifestyle beyond the physical aspect. Users can also expect a wide array of content namely healthy, easy-to-do recipes, exclusive perks and discounts for active members, member testimonials, and other lifestyle content such as mental health, COVID protocols, and the like.

Ryan Cheal, COO for core market of Anytime Fitness Asia, shares his insight for AF Connect, saying that the past two years have been challenging with COVID-19, and everyone has witnessed that leading a healthy lifestyle is very important.

“Anytime Fitness has 140 gyms nationwide and we open new gyms every month. For the last seven years, we have been bringing Anytime Fitness to our communities. Now we want to make health and fitness more accessible by launching our online platforms,” Cheal said.

He added, “Our members can get the best education on nutrition, recovery, mental health, and workout at the gym, at home, at work and at the local park, with the world’s number 1 in group exercise Les Mills on demand. Not only will this platform be free for our members, but we also want to give everyone a 7-day free trial. We want to continue to improve the health and fitness of the Filipino people.”

Aside from AF Connect, other digital platforms of the company include the Anytime Fitness PH website, a user-friendly tool that features Find My Gym, free day passes, and online sign-ups. The AF app is also available to all active members where they can book their gym visit, customize workouts, and speak to their personal trainers, 24-7.

Manila, Philippines – UNO Digital Bank, the digital bank regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Digital Banking License framework, has partnered with payment solutions company Mastercard, to issue digital and physical Debit Mastercard cards in the Philippines. 

The virtual cards aim to make it easy for customers to transact online, and the physical card can be used at points of sale at retail outlets or any Mastercard, Maestro, or Cirrus ATMs worldwide. Moreover, the new physical Debit Mastercard will have exciting security features that are designed to mitigate fraud and empower cardholders to prevent the misuse of their card. Cardholders will also have access to Mastercard’s curated selection of Priceless experiences and everyday merchant offers that will allow them to stretch their money further. 

Manish Bhai, UNO Digital Bank’s CEO, shared that Filipinos are embracing digital payments, and their partnership with Mastercard honours their promise to deliver simple solutions to the customers.

“Moreover, as a credit-led bank, we are also building a payments ecosystem. In our business partners, such as with Mastercard, we seek those with a similar mindset to our own: a mission to deliver innovation with simplicity. Stay tuned as to how we innovate the debit Mastercard card for our launch in Q2,” said Bhai.

Meanwhile, Simon Calasanz, Mastercard’s country manager for the Philippines, commented, “Mastercard is honoured to work with innovative partners like UNO Digital Bank who are paving the way to financial inclusion in the Philippines. Mastercard debit cards are designed to meet evolving consumer needs, and make everyday payments safe, simple, smart, and accessible.”

Vivek Kumar, UNO Digital Bank’s head of loans, payments and ecosystems, noted, “We are building in features that will elevate the banking experience for UNO Digital Bank customers, and take our commitment to cardholder convenience and innovation to the next level.”

The bank will announce the debit card attributes when it launches later this year. 

Most recently, UNO Digital Bank has just rebranded from its former name UNObank Inc. The rebrand reiterates the digital nature of the bank’s business. It also comes with a new visual identity for the company, which includes a new logo, an updated colour palette, and new iconography.

Philippines — Esports is truly making the waves today with brands from all verticals jumping to the platform. The latest in the Philippines is long-standing salon brand David’s Salon which has signed an agreement with Maharlika Esports League to hold an all-female esports tournament entitled David’s Salon Cup. The competition will be on PUBG: Battlegrounds – a popular online multiplayer game in the shooter genre and will have a ₱70,000 prize pool at stake.

According to the company, their foray into the esports realm is to include female athletes in their vision of the future in the digital arena. David’s Salon has previously supported female athletes, having created an all-female multisport team -Team David’s Salon back in 2005. 

David’s Salon Cup is open to all Filipina residents aged 16 years old and above. The competition will run from April 25 until May 8 and is targeting 1,000 participants in 100 teams from all corners of the country. Registration procedures and the complete details of the tournament will be posted on David’s Salon’s social media channels.

Philippines — The MullenLowe TREYNA Group has unveiled their newest offering, ViVYD. ViVYD is a feature-rich, Filipino-built platform for hybrid experiences that showcases advanced options for staging and customization for any event and audience.

The platform is a solution for hybrid experience creators and organizers who are eager to create effective offline and online venues for their conferences, brand-led events, trade and B2B gatherings, employee get-togethers, and more.

Organizers have the ability to choose between self-serve or managed services, including the production team, the ease of use of the backend event management system, customizable login levels for different types of attendees, and flexible skinning and branding throughout. Audiences can view virtual watch rooms, manage their schedules with an interactive calendar that updates in real-time, engage with one another through in-event community chats, and express their sentiments live through applause and reaction bar.

ViVYD officially premiered in October 2021 at IMMAP Digicon, the Philippines’ largest digital marketing conference, where Denise Haak, CEO of Qairos, said that they were thrilled to see ViVYD at work in front of over 2,000 attendees, with world-class speakers such as Adam Grant, Bretman Rock, Professor Scott Galloway.

“And now, as part of the MullenLowe TREYNA Group, ViVYD also means access to hybrid experts such as online platform managers and event managers, so it truly is a one-stop suite of solutions,” Haak said.

Manila, Philippines – The Philippine-based tech investment firm, First Shoshin Solutions Inc. (FSSI), which was co-founded by the country’s ex-congresswoman Sally Ponce-Enrile in 2017, has partnered with female finance platform Bixie to empower Filipino women to become financially independent. 

FSSI delivers digital innovation in the country through its online consultation platform JojoCare and digital payment platform JoJoPay, while Bixie provides women with an AI-powered finance app that encourages savings and wealth generation through knowledge, network, and tools.

Under the partnership, Bixie will be leveraging FSSI’s APIs and other integrations such as blockchain and banking partners as well its Operators of Payment Systems (OPS) license with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). This collaboration with FSSI also provides Bixie with the ability to scale its offerings to become a central access point for its clients’ convenience.

Sally Ponce-Enrile, the co-chairperson of First Shoshin Holdings Corp. (FSHC), commented that they are thrilled to partner with Bixie and extend its mission of providing better finance management for Filipino women. 

“Bixie and FFSI share the vision of banking the unbanked majority. With our digital payment capabilities, we are humbled to scale Bixie’s comprehensive app and be a part of their movement to provide better ways for women to manage their money,” said Ponce-Enrile.

Manila, Philippines – AirAsia in the Philippines has partnered with independent voter information campaign organisation, Vote Pilipinas in a bid to further promote voter education and responsible voting in the country. This is in line with the upcoming national elections happening on 9 May this year.

The airline will also actively participate serving as Vote Pilipinas’ communications partner, broadcasting the series of voter education webinars and Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates to more than 12 million followers of the airasia Super App Facebook page.

In addition, AirAsia Philippines is making the remaining series of Vote Pilipinas Presidential Debates and webinars – Kalusugan (Health), Kamalayan (Awareness) and Kahandaan (Readiness), which covers topics on COVID-19, mental and public health, media literacy, press freedom, misinformation and disinformation, resilience, preparedness and mitigation available every Friday afternoon at the Super App Facebook page.

AirAsia Philippines will also release a series of social media infographics under its response program ‘alwaysREDy’ campaign which aims to provide tips to the voting public, as well as the do’s and don’ts during election day.

AirAsia Philippines CEO Ricky Isla said, “AirAsia will always be apolitical but we want to take part in proactively encouraging Filipinos to exercise their right to suffrage. It is through this partnership with Vote Pilipinas that we responsibly play our part in nation building, especially shaping the next six years of our country which is crucial to exiting the pandemic. At AirAsia, we are ‘alwaysREDy’ to educate and equip our guests with the right information they need to make the right best choice as they cast their votes in May.”

Meanwhile, Ces Rondario, founder at Vote Pilipinas, commented, “This campaign started with the goal to support the Commission on Elections on getting the word out about voter registration. We began with encouraging members of the Vote Pilipinas team to register, then Filipinos nationwide – and now we have successfully gotten around 7.9 million Filipinos to register to vote. But it doesn’t just end there. Our goal now is to make sure that people will actually go out and vote come May 9, and that they are armed with sufficient and factual information to make informed decisions when voting.” 

She added, “With the help of our partners such as AirAsia Philippines, we’re able to widen our audience and deliver the right information to millions of Filipinos across the country. With this, more people can truly get to know this year’s candidates, their platforms, and why it’s important to exercise their right to vote, so they can confidently cast their ballots during election day.”

To entice more people to actively participate in the May polls, AirAsia Philippines is launching its Fly Home to vote promo. From 4 to 10 April, guests can avail of fares as low as P268 (one-way base fare) and get their return ticket for FREE for travels until 30 September.

Cebu, Philippines –  SWAT Mobility, the Singapore-based smart mobility company that provides employee transportation and logistics solutions, has announced its plan to expand smart mobility adoption in the province of Cebu in the Philippines. This will be particular among IT-BPM companies. 

The Philippines is home to a number of IT-BPM firms that suffer from the inefficiencies of the transport system. While local roads remain clogged with traffic, business productivity suffers and leads to increased costs for businesses.  

As part of the Smart Mobility Summit, held on, April 1,by Cebu’s IT-BPM group, the company presented its vision for Philippine transportation in the future and predicted that dynamic shuttles would augment public transportation in Cebu to meet local demand in the near future. 

One of the topics highlighted at the Summit was how Cebu-based IT-BPM companies can overcome the constraints posed by traffic and the current transportation infrastructure. More particularly, how they will deal when the majority of their employees are required by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board to return to work (FIRB).

Nicholas Stipp, chief revenue officer of SWAT Mobility, shared that as Cebu and the rest of the country fully reopen this month, they expect a much larger volume of movement which is already straining the current transport system. To maintain productivity, businesses recognise the need to utilise digital solutions to help their employees go back to work.

Stipp added, “Smart mobility solutions have proven to improve transport efficiency, reduce operational costs and enable businesses to reach markets more quickly. As local companies are looking to embrace smart mobility and digital technologies with a clear focus on future business growth, they need to actively engage their workforce in driving this transformation.” 

Meanwhile, Theresa Busmente, country business head for SWAT Mobility Philippines, commented, “We have helped BPO companies offer transport to support their staff’s commutes and increase retention by enhancing the convenience to employees. Smart technology helps companies to fully realize the benefits of offering transport.”

During the Pandemic, the company has introduced smart mobility to BPO companies in Cebu with their implementation partner, Hagibis Ventures, Inc. 

Manila, Philippines – Global package delivery company UPS has announced that local electronic wallet GCash has been now integrated into their services, where any shipper or recipient in the Philippines can now instantly and securely pay for UPS’s logistics services, and settle any outstanding shipment-related charges, at any time, using GCash’s digital payment app on their mobile phones.

Grace Gavilan, finance manager at UPS in the Philippines, said, “Being able to leverage GCash’s leading mobile payments technology enhances how our customers do business with us in several ways, including improved customer experience, payment convenience, and even minimising package delays in the event shipments are held at customs due to outstanding duties and taxes.”

She added, “Small businesses form the backbone of our economy, and as the Philippines pivots towards becoming a digitalized and cash-lite economy, their active participation is crucial or they risk getting left behind. We’re confident this enhancement opens more doors for Filipino small businesses to be part of an inclusive financial ecosystem, and addresses their needs for a smarter, more digital-first approach to logistics and international trade.”

Meanwhile, Luigi Reyes, vice president for enterprise at GCash, commented, “Our company’s fintech service is built on the premise of enabling a digital ecosystem to help every Filipino. We are delighted to team up with UPS as this moves us closer to our goal of accelerating financial inclusion in our society – across government, businesses and consumers – via our financial services platform.”

The latest integration is part of UPS’ latest initiatives aimed at enabling a global smart, technology-enabled logistics network, including new shipping technologies like My Choice for Business which provides shippers with greater flexibility and visibility of their inbound and outbound shipments.

Manila, Philippines – The Department of Tourism (DOT) in the Philippines has announced its digital magazine ‘7641’, in a bid to further promote the various destinations in the country and fast track tourism recovery, as well as provide readers travel inspiration and information about the tourist spots in the Philippines.

The digital magazine’s microsite’s name was inspired by the verified number of islands in the Philippines, which through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA), had been verified through an ongoing islands inventory.

The ‘7641’ magazine supplies travel information through feature articles that provide detailed itineraries, suggested activities with accompanying reminders for a safe adventure, and interesting stories for each place.

As part of the magazine launch, the DOT invited feature and non-fiction writers, some of whom travelled to the destinations themselves, for more immersive writing. The DOT also collaborated with regional creatives, including SinoPinas and Playground Films of Zamboanga City, to document the sites and motivate people to travel through images and videos.

Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat, said, “In 7641, we went in-depth into the stories of a destination, a cultural tradition, a dish, a personal affiliation to a place, while also providing the basic information you need as a traveller.”

She added, “We want to promote all tourist destinations in the archipelago that have already reopened to visitors. Each month, we will highlight different places so that the public can discover the marvellous sites that our 7,641 islands can offer.”

Manila, Philippines – The move towards a cashless society in the Philippines is becoming more evident, with the latest study from Visa unveiling that around 84% of Filipinos have tried going cashless in favour of digital payments, while 60% of Filipinos say that they are carrying less cash nowadays.

According to the report, cashless payment usage in the country is increasing across a variety of payment options, where Filipinos’ have a preference to use mobile wallets (64%), card payments online (52%), card payments at physical merchants (44%), and QR payments (31%). This shows that the pandemic has also driven the uptake of cashless payment methods, especially mobile wallets and card payments online, with a large number of first-time users due to the pandemic.

Dan Wolbert, country manager for the Philippines and Guam at Visa, said, “While cash is still commonplace in the Philippines, the preference for cashless payments is clearly gaining momentum. Our study showed more Filipinos are confident to get by without cash and for longer periods of time – with more than half feeling confident to get by for a week or longer, as cashless payment options grow.”

Contactless payments, on the other hand, are seen as an emerging payment method in which consumers showed high interest. Eighty-three per cent of Filipinos are aware of contactless payments while 69% have made contactless payments in 2021, up from 66% in 2020.

Wolbert added, “Filipinos believe COVID-19 has accelerated the country’s transition to a cashless society by at least three years. Now, seven out of 10 consumers anticipate that the Philippines can become fully cashless within the next seven to 10 years.”

The report noted that in 2021, the pandemic continued to be the main driver of online shopping growth, especially digital purchases made via e-commerce apps. More consumers turned to online shopping and started using apps or websites to shop for the first time. Movement restriction orders in the past year also led to an increase in in-home spending that included home office products, groceries, personal care items, and content platform subscriptions.