Tag: Philippines

Singapore — Alida, the Total Experience Management (TXM) platform, has announced the technology-driven customer experience (CX) consulting company Blink CX has become a member of its Partner Network to deliver elevated CX solutions to organizations in the Philippines.

Blink CX specializes in assisting organizations to achieve a ‘customer-first’ agenda to drive desired financial and operational outcomes. Through tailored advisory services, data science, and access to global CX technology platforms, Blink CX is able to maximize the value of its customers’ CX investments during every stage of the life cycle. With the implementation of the Alida TXM platform and Blink CX’s consultancy, customers will be able to address CX pain points and gain truly actionable insights to ensure a strong growth momentum and long term business success.

Darwin Clark Jacquez, COO and vice president of sales of Blink CX, said, “Partnering with Alida will enable both companies to leverage each other’s strengths to deliver value to customers in the areas of Experience Management. There is great synergy between Blink CX capabilities and Alida value propositions that will help companies build loyalty from its customers.”

Steven Medeiros, SVP and general manager of Alida APAC, commented that they are thrilled to work with a partner who is dedicated to innovation and strongly embodies what it means to put the voice of their customer first.

“We look forward to creating a strong partnership with Blink CX that will not only deliver industry-leading CX solutions but also provide an end-to-end personalized experience that enables brands to achieve their desired growth results,” Medeiros said.

The Alida Partner Network enables growth for organizations of all sizes by providing the software, enablement and expert support needed to put customers’ truth into action. As an established player in building engaged and online communities for ongoing customer feedback, partners entrust Alida’s software to help them deliver powerful insights and a competitive advantage for their clients.

Commenting on the addition of Blink CX to the network, Gary Smith, SVP channel and partner alliances of Alida, shared, “We are happy to partner with Blink CX to offer organizations across APAC an exceptional solution to elevate their customers’ experiences.”

Manila, Philippines – GrowSari, the local B2B e-commerce platform that serves sari-sari stores or local mom-and-pop stores in the Philippines, has raised US$77.5m as part of its Series C funding, bringing its total funding to around US$110m. This newly secured fund will be used in accelerating GrowSari’s national expansion. 

According to Growsari, from a base of 1,000 sari-sari stores in three cities back in 2018, the platform has grown to service more than 100,000 stores in over 220 municipalities across Luzon. In addition, it has expanded rapidly and further into other MSMEs/non-sari-sari store formats nationwide over the last 12 months.

Reymund ‘ER’ Rollan, GrowSari’s CEO and co-founder, believes that not only will this funding allow them to fuel their growth, but this will also help them bring top global quality talent in operations, technology, and data science into the startup ecosystem of the Philippines.

“We are strategic in choosing investors, and we have deepened our partnership with those who can support this next phase of growth, on the core as well as financial services. We remain open to partnering with all other local and international companies as we transform this MSME space,” said Rollan.

Meanwhile, Siddhartha Kongara, GrowSari’s CTO and co-founder, shared that they have already launched in the Visayas, with Iloilo as the first city, and will launch in Mindanao soon, and they also have the largest B2B fulfilment network and will have 50-plus fulfilment centres nationwide.

“We are also fast progressing on our vision to use the GrowSari technology stack to help other companies in their logistics and e-commerce journeys. We already have more than 10 traditional companies that are leveraging the platforms to improve their business operations,” said Kongara.

This round’s funding was joined by investors International Finance Corporation (IFC), KKR, which led the Series C round, and Pavilion Capital of the Temasek Group, along with almost all existing investors. GrowSari is also in talks for the next round of funding, as there is a significant demand from marquee funds.

Stephanie von Friedeburg, IFC’s senior vice president of operations, said, “Our investment will enable Growsari to expand digital adoption and financial services for MSMEs, which is critical to keep them competitive, and for a resilient and inclusive recovery.”

Manila, Philippines – UNObank Inc., a digital bank regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Digital Banking License framework, has rebranded to UNO Digital Bank ahead of its Q2 launch in 2022.

The new name reiterates the digital nature of the bank’s business. Along with the name change comes a new visual identity for the company, which includes a new logo, an updated colour palette, and new iconography.

Manish Bhai, chief executive officer and co-founder at UNOAsia Pte. Ltd. Singapore, shared, “We are a credit-led digital bank that is pioneering an elevated approach to banking: one that makes meeting life’s financial needs simple and accessible for the customer, while also fueling growth and innovation in the industry. These are the attributes that we have mirrored in the new brand.”

Bhai emphasised, “We are not content with functioning on the status quo. Instead, our work is innovation-led and growth-focused, committed to always being numero uno (number one) when it comes to meeting needs and adding value to our stakeholders.”

Manila, Philippines – In a bid to aid the growing number of food-related small businesses in the Philippines, Grab Philippines has launched a new program called ‘Indie Eats’, which aims to help merchant-partners amplify their presence on GrabFood and bring their offerings to the spotlight.

‘Indie Eats’ hosts a full roster of small and local merchant-partners that are perfect for every craving. Whether you’re looking for refreshing mango coolers to beat the heat from ‘Mango Series’, the hearty and comforting taste of lugaw (rice porridge) from ‘Lugaw ni Pinggoy’, or a quick bite of your favourite pastries from ‘Panaderia Pantoja’, Grab has you covered with its range of merchant-partners.

With Indie Eats, Grab hopes to provide assistance to their vast community of small and local merchant-partners. Those interested to onboard can partake in Grab’s upskilling seminars, providing training in building their brand and menu. This ensures that merchant-partners are able to improve their brand every step of the way. 

All in all, the program also aims to inspire its merchant-partners to become the best brands they can be, and be on their way to exciting more consumers with their offerings.

Martin Luchangco, head of merchants and partnerships at Grab Philippines, said, “At Grab, we are always ready to provide support to our merchant-partners to ensure they are able to meet success and have a rewarding experience on our platform; in particular, small food businesses hold a lot of potential not just in Grab but in our local food industry as a whole. Indie Eats is just one of the many ways we want to help them in being discovered by more Filipinos, and reach success with us.”

Philippines — PLDT wireless unit Smart Communications has struck an agreement with South Korea’s T1, one of the pioneering esports organizations in the world. Through the partnership, Smart will provide facilities that will assist T1’s expansion in the Philippines.

As part of its goal to boost the esports industry in the country, Smart will house the online MOBA game DOTA 2 Team of T1 and power its connectivity during their boot camp and tournaments. Three Filipino esports athletes are also part of T1’s roster: Carlo ‘Kuku’ Palad, Khim ‘Gabbi’ Villafuerte, and Karl Jayme.

Jude H. Turcuato, first vice president and head of sports at PLDT and Smart, said that they are more than delighted to help their former coach Kuku and welcome T1 to the Philippines. Turcuato added that this is part of Smart’s advocacy to help develop esports in the Philippines and empower Filipino esports athletes as they make their mark in the global arena.

“We just want to take this opportunity to thank Smart and Smart Omega for helping us with our boot camp. They have also helped us get professional IT support on standby, especially during official matches. The facilities are good, and the place is safe as well,” Palad said.

Smart Omega is the professional esports team backed by Smart.

T1, along with eight other squads in the region, is set to play in the Southeast Asia Dota Pro Circuit Division I this month. T1 won first place in the Dota Pro Circuit 2021 Season 2 – SEA Upper Division and ESL One Summer 2021; second place for DPC SEA 2021-2022 Tour 1 Regional Finals, and landing in the top 7-8 of The International 10 in 2021. Founded in 2003, T1 is also known for their three-time world championship title for League of Legends.

Manila, Philippines – To celebrate the launch of Smart GIGA Arena, an online arcade and esports tournament platform, the Philippine-based telco hosted an exhibition match last 9 March 2022, which features some of the best Filipino esports players and content creators of mobile game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (ML).

During the exhibition match, the pro esports team Smart Omega took on the Smart Dream Team, which was led by cosplayer and gamer Alodia Gosiengfiao, as well as included streamers and content creators Dexie Diaz, Ghostwrecker, Nix, and Pabbie Gaming.

After tying the match at one game apiece, the pros followed that up by proving their mettle and professional pedigree in the third game. It was a competitive bout that lasted almost 20 minutes, and Omega took it to the Dream Team’s base again.

On top of the amazingly competitive three games between Smart Omega and the Dream Team, some lucky viewers of the stream also came away with special Mobile Legends skins just by watching and registering to Smart GIGA Arena.

The telco said, “Smart subscribers who are also gamers and esports enthusiasts can enjoy the same kind of intense and exciting Mobile Legends action, as well as more of their favourite mobile games, on Smart’s GIGA Arena platform.”

On Smart GIGA Arena, subscribers can link up with their friends and play in tournaments to rank up and win cash prizes. They can also play arcade games, buy diamonds and other in-game currency, and watch footage and streams of events on the platform.

Manila, Philippines – Red Ribbon believes that ‘love’ can be expressed in many ways, and no reason is too little to show someone what you feel. With this, the Philippine-based bakery chain has launched its new campaign, with the aim to tell Filipinos that “love does not always have to be a grand gesture.”

The new campaign showcases that ‘love’ can be as simple as giving a cake during a birthday, a simple pick-me-up pastry for a friend who needs cheering up, welcoming someone back home with a sweet treat, or making everyday family moments more special by sharing a cake.

Titled ‘Give Love Today’, the ad is set to the iconic tune ‘What the world needs now is love sweet love’. It highlights that all expressions of ‘love’ make a world of difference especially now when it is needed the most.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtmL-hH7-4s

Cathleen Capati, Red Ribbon’s marketing head, believes that everyone needs to feel loved more often because it makes the days better and sweeter.

“That’s what we, at Red Ribbon, want our customers to feel when they receive a Red Ribbon cake or pastry: that someone loves and appreciates them,” said Capati.

Philippines — Union Bank of the Philippines, whose digital banking division services micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and major e-commerce platform Lazada, have collaborated to enable online sellers to have more options when it comes to bringing their products closer to customers.

With the memorandum of agreement signed last 10 March 2022, UnionBank, through its digital MSME online platform UnionBank GlobalLinker (UBGL), will be creating a special site for all Lazada sellers, while the latter will be doing the same for UBGL sellers. All existing Lazada sellers prior to the partnership will be automatically included.

According to UBGL and Lazada, the joint initiative aims to encourage more sign-ups in both of their respective marketplaces. It will help entrepreneurs expand their online presence much easier, as enlisting with either platform automatically opens up another virtual storefront for them, resulting in more opportunities in doing business with customers.

Signing up offers numerous benefits to sellers. First, they will have access to a dedicated Lazada Onboarding Team. This crew can provide guidance on a number of ideas ranging from selling to strategies; help those who have questions or concerns, and notify sellers about the latest initiatives within the Lazada platform.

In addition, sellers can utilize the following campaign features for free: Members Exclusive Campaign in the home page banner, landing page, and Lazada live, New Seller Campaign Access, and Mega Campaign Access. The first 150 signups will also enjoy service marketplace packages amounting to more than PHP1m in support. These include product photography, product upload, and store builder design, among others.

Lazada will likewise be promoting the UnionBank GlobalLinker platform to its own Lazada Seller Community, so that they too, can reap the benefits of the UBGL Platform.

Jaypee Soliman, vice president and head of SME and Micropreneurs Segment for UnionBank, said that right now, we are, without a doubt, in the golden age of e-commerce in the country.

“We want more enterprising Filipinos to thrive in this period of exponential growth for online shopping, which is why our enhanced partnership with Lazada is very timely. This is all part of our efforts to support the country’s MSME sector, bolster our “Tech-Up Pilipinas” advocacy, and promote inclusive prosperity for Filipinos,” Soliman said.

Carlos Barrera, chief operating officer of Lazada Philippines, commented, “With more MSMEs going online, the partnership with UnionBank is definitely a great step forward in enabling Filipino businesses to grow and scale their e-commerce presence. As we go into our 10th year of empowering MSMEs to go digital, we share an equal mission with UnionBank to continue to uplift Filipino entrepreneurs and further fuel the local digital economy.”

Lazada has been a consistent partner of UnionBank in backing the country’s MSME sector and making online shopping easier for customers since 2020. During the peak of the health crisis, the two companies provided an emergency credit lifeline to Lazada sellers who were heavily affected by the pandemic. In August of the same year, they launched the UnionBank Lazada Credit Card, providing numerous perks to Lazada shoppers.

The service of retail banking plays a significant role in consumers’ financial lifestyle, and as the industry continuously witnesses disruptions, we can expect players in retail banking to continue to undergo considerable development and transformation. This then opens up the competition to devise newer strategies to strengthen businesses and provide customers with an enhanced banking experience.

Last December 2021, we saw this into fruition in the Philippine market. UnionBank, one of the leading banking institutions in the Philippines, specifically, the seventh-largest publicly-listed bank in the country, has revealed that it has decided to acquire Citi’s consumer banking business in the country.

A few months prior to this, Citi has unveiled its new strategy to move its focus to its Institutional Clients Group in April 2021, driving them to finally let go of their consumer banking business in the Philippines. The acquisition by UnionBank entails a ‘share and business transfer agreement’ with various subsidiaries of Citi. Through this, UnionBank’s transactions will now include Citi’s credit card, personal loans, wealth management, and retail deposit businesses. It will also now own Citi’s real estate interests in relation to Citibank Square located in Eastwood, one of Manila’s main shopper destinations; three full-service bank branches, and five wealth centres, as well as two bank branch offices.

For MARKETECH APAC‘s industry deep dive The Inner State, we have invited Albert Cuadrante, Union Bank of the Philippines’ chief marketing officer, to tell more about his insights regarding the marketing implications of the recent acquisition.

Impact of Citi’s exit in the Philippines’ retail banking industry

UnionBank is widely known as one of the most digitally transformed and future-forward banks in the country, with over four million users on its digital platform, while Citi has had the third-largest credit card franchise in the country and is a pre-eminent wealth management provider.

Cuadrante believes that, with the above in mind, the move is a very positive development for the retail banking industry because ultimately, the “real winners here are the customers.” 

He further shared that there is also a minimal overlap, particularly in credit cards which accounts for [a] large portion of Citi’s customer base.

“The clear synergies that this acquisition presents us with opportunities to come out with even better products and further elevate our level of service to customers,” noted Cuadrante.

Uplifting UnionBank’s brand positioning

As per the effects of the acquisition on UnionBank’s brand positioning, Cuadrante said that UnionBank’s aspiration is to be a ‘great retail bank’ focused on growing its consumer retail banking business and led by its digital transformation initiatives. With the recent acquisition, he believes that this will provide them with a transformational opportunity to fast-track their growth aspirations in the retail banking segment.

With Citi being the country’s largest foreign bank and its consumer business offering a superior suite of product offerings in credit cards, personal loans, and wealth management, Cuadrante trusts that UnionBank will be able to benefit from Citi’s expertise in product development, spending management, data intelligence and modelling, portfolio managing and cross-sell, and sales and distribution. 

“This will enable UnionBank to effectively take the business to the next level and further strengthen our value proposition to our customers,” he said.

Citi’s customers transitioning to UnionBank

In terms of adopting Citi’s consumer banking customers, Cuadrante noted that UnionBank is committed to ensuring the quality of products and level of customer service Citi customers are currently enjoying.

He said that customers will have access to UnionBank’s digital channels, a wide range of product and service offerings, and branch network, over and above the existing branches, products, and services of Citi. In addition, customers will be able to benefit from its data-driven decision-making and omnichannel platform offering to enjoy personalised offers tailored to their needs.

Meanwhile, UnionBank plans to retain Citi’s good performance amongst its clients by treating the Citi portfolio as a separate business unit until such time when they are able to fully integrate the systems and practices between UnionBank and Citi.

“Citi, on their part, is committed to supporting the transition and shall continue to provide regional support until we are able to migrate their entire consumer business to our systems and platforms,” added Cuadrante.

The long-term benefit of the acquisition to UnionBank

UnionBank is expecting results in significant synergies for them, particularly from the opportunity to cross-sell products to a larger combined customer base, helping them gain scale and increase profitability and grow their penetration rate.

Cuadrante said that the combined credit card portfolio will bring them to #4 in the industry, up from #10 currently, and within striking distance of the top 3. Citi also has close to one million customers, ranging from the mass affluent to the high net worth, which complements their over 10 million customer accounts today.

“The Citi customer base is largely incremental as there is minimal overlap, particularly in credit cards which accounts for [a] large portion of Citi’s consumer business,” he added.

Manila, Philippines – PDAX, the digital asset exchange in the Philippines, has launched a new exclusive service called PDAX Prime, which is designed for Filipino crypto investors and their growing needs for digital assets. 

The move is part of PDAX’s broader effort to enable and empower crypto holders in the country and bring more Filipinos into the crypto economy.

Through PDAX Prime, customers will have access to the over-the-counter (OTC) service where they can trade more tokens faster and with competitive pricing. Using their preferred chat application, PRIME clients will also have direct access to the PDAX Treasury Team to trade digital assets. 

Through this, clients can access 21 in-demand digital assets on TAXes Website, Mobile App and through Treasury OTC. These are Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, US Dollar Coin, and Litecoin, as well as Ripple, and The Graph, amongst others. The minimum trade amount for these digital assets on Treasury OTC is ₱1m per transaction.

Meanwhile, the PDAX Prime membership grants clients access to 30 additional OTC-exclusive digital assets namely Ox, 1 inch Network, Badger DAO, Bancor, and Chiliz, as well as Curve DAO, and DAI, amongst others. The minimum trade amount for these digital assets in the Treasury OTC is ₱250,000 per transaction.

Nichel Gaba, PDAX’s founder and CEO, noted that they believe crypto investors in the country deserve to maximise their crypto investments and discover more opportunities to build their wealth, especially at the age of economic recovery.

“Our current users have the option of upgrading their accounts to enjoy the perks of PDAX Prime. We see this as an improvement to what we offer today and a benchmark for other, more innovative solutions we may come up with in the future,” said Gaba.

PDAX also has a dedicated team that is passionate about crypto and all other solutions to help PDAX Prime clients make the most out of their crypto journey. The team’s mission is to guide the customers through the fast-paced world of crypto and share solutions that will allow them to maximise their crypto investments.

Additionally, as part of its mission of promoting financial inclusion and education in the country, PDAX will also provide PDAX Prime members priority access to different educational materials via Zoom or watch the recorded versions exclusively on the PDAX Prime Youtube channel, in order for them to stay ahead of the curve. These educational activities include a basic overview of digital assets, an in-depth discussion on trading and staking, and roundtables with crypto personalities who can provide their unique insights on different crypto or digital asset opportunities, amongst other things.