Tag: Philippines

Manila, Philippines – CIBI, a local credit bureau agency, has announced a partnership with AI and data company ADVANCE.AI to use innovative AI and computer vision technology to expand business intelligence support and services for local businesses in the Philippines.

CIBI, which was first established in 1982, provides data, credit reporting, and information management services and analytics for consumers and business entities. Meanwhile, ADVANCE.AI aims to solve digital transformation, fraud prevention, and process automation for enterprise clients.

Marlo R. Cruz, president and CEO of CIBI said, “As a forward-looking and digital-first organization, CIBI always looks to be one step ahead. This partnership with ADVANCE.AI facilitates our mission to give Filipino businesses easier access to a range of business intelligence services, including credit and data reporting through a more efficient internal system. This marks the beginning of more opportunities for CIBI, as our partners enrich our capabilities and innovations.”

ADVANCE.AI’s holistic suite of products covers three key areas: digital identity verification and eKYC customer onboarding, risk management and digital lending solutions. It is now expanding into markets such as Mexico, UK, Europe, and the US.

Meanwhile, Dong Shou, CEO of ADVANCE.AI, commented: “Our market-leading AI and computer vision technology will allow CIBI to expand its range of critical business data and intelligence reporting solutions, with the ultimate aim of better supporting underbanked and underserved businesses in the Philippines.” 

He added, “This is more important than ever in the current COVID landscape, as we help accelerate the digitalization of the economy, and in doing so, help millions of Filipinos and businesses gain access to new financial products and services.”

Manila, Philippines –ShopeePay, Shopee’s in-app digital wallet, is fast becoming an entity of its own, with the e-commerce continuously introducing partners and features that move it beyond its primary function – as payment for orders on the platform. This time, ShopeePay in the Philippines has partnered with one of the leading supermarkets in the country, Puregold. 

The tie-up will see the leverage of the use of QR codes for over-the-counter grocery purchases. Puregold has over 406 branches nationwide. The shopper, once at the cashier of any branch, will only need to inform first that he intends to pay with ShopeePay. Once the shopper goes to his ShopeePay wallet action bar, he will need to tap ‘Scan’, and click QR / Barcode, and enter his 6-digit ShopeePay PIN. The shopper will then present the generated QR code to the cashier for scanning, and receive a confirmation of the payment once done.

“Puregold is excited to partner with ShopeePay for this initiative. At Puregold, we want to give our customers only the best kind of service and overall quality shopping experience, and that includes easier and safer payment methods. Through the convenience of digital payments, we aim to increase customer enthusiasm while consumers maintain their purchasing power,” said Ferdinand Vincent Co, the president of Puregold.

Meanwhile, Martin Yu, the director of Shopee Philippines, commented, “We are always thrilled to partner with one of the Filipinos’ favorite brands, such as Puregold. Through ShopeePay, we strive to ensure that users can shop and pay with ease. In addition to the ease of use, ShopeePay offers several benefits to users which include convenience, a seamless user experience, security, and greater cost savings.” 

By using ShopeePay, shoppers can also enjoy up to 20% cashback starting today, 21 April until 31 December 2021.

Manila, Philippines – Despite the majority of Filipino small businesses successfully deploying digital finance gateways, access to external finance, on the other hand, may hamper their business growth, new survey from professional accounting body CPA Australia shows.

According to the report., cash flow difficulties are having a negative effect on some Filipino small businesses as 64% of respondents sought external funds last year; with 43% seeking funds for business growth, and 32% for survival.

However, only 13% of respondents found accessing external finance easy or very easy, the lowest of the markets surveyed. This may explain why respondents mainly sought funds from friends or family (21%) or personal resources (21%), compared to 15% from a bank. Only 16% of Filipino small businesses expect accessing external finance to be easy or very easy in 2021, which is lower than the survey average of 28%.

Part of this issue can be attributed to COVID-19 restrictions, with more than half (58%) of Filipino respondents reported being negatively impacted by COVID-19. However, 46% say they have already recovered or expect to recover in 2021, while 62% of small businesses grew in 2020. 

Filipino small businesses made greater use of digital technologies in 2020 as the pandemic accelerated the use of e-commerce. Around 27% of Filipino small businesses reported that they began or increased their focus on online sales in response to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, 61% of respondents received more than 10% of sales from digital or online payment technologies such as GCash, DragonPay, and PesoPay, up from 47% in 2019. About 62% of small businesses received more than 1% of their revenue from online sales, up from 50% in 2019.

According to Mark Chau, regional general manager of business development international at CPA Australia, dynamism among Filipino small businesses should help drive an economic rebound this year as restrictions are gradually eased and global economic activity returns to normal.

“The survey shows that small businesses in the Philippines are eager to innovate and engage with customers through social media. A vibrant and youthful workforce together with growing domestic demand supported the sector in 2020,” Chaus stated.

About 73% of Filipino small businesses expect to grow in 2021, with 52% intending to increase employees. 22% anticipate that revenue from overseas markets will grow strongly, while 31% say they will introduce a new product, process or service to the local or overseas markets, the second highest of the markets surveyed.

“Difficulties in accessing external finance may hinder business plans to hire more employees, invest in technology or expand to new markets. Small businesses in the Philippines should consider seeking professional advice to maximize their success in obtaining external finance,” Chau added.

Manila, Philippines – PayLater, the buy now pay later feature from super-app Grab, has finally rolled out in the Philippines, giving Grab users in the country a solution to let them shop, dine, ride and pay later in one monthly bill across Grab’s services such as GrabCar, GrabFood, GrabMart, and GrabExpress.

PayLater is available to top-tier and long-time Grab users who regularly use the app’s features and those with significant transactions across the app’s different services. If a consumer qualifies for the feature, it will appear as a payment method for Grab transactions, along with other payment methods such as cash, GrabPay, and enrolled credit cards. The consumer has to click and subscribe to activate the PayLater feature.

The PayLater bill will be generated on the 1st or 15th of the month with seven days to settle, depending on the activation day. This will give consumers time to manage and plan their finances responsibly. 

In addition, the users can avoid any bill shock by tracking their transactions by going to the PayLater section and click the ‘view details’ button to see their current spending total, available balance, and transaction history. The entire PayLater system is transparent, so people can see that there are no hidden fees. To avoid late fees, users can enable their notifications to receive regular payment reminders before their due date. 

“This new feature allows our users to enjoy Grab’s suite of services such as delivery of food or other essential items and pay for them a whole month later. It allows them to better plan their finances and manage their cash flow, as they can review all their transactions in one monthly bill with zero interest,” said Erwin Yamsuan, head of Grab Financial Services in the Philippines. 

He added, “One of the best things about this service is that consumers will also earn points for every transaction which they can collect and exchange for great rewards. It’s been a challenging year for many Filipinos, and we hope that this new Grab service brings more convenience to many people.”

Aside from the convenience it offers to users, PayLater also offers a rewarding bonus to those who avail of the service. Grab users will earn reward points for any transaction they charge to their PayLater accounts.

Philippines – Dingdong Dantes, a top local actor in the Philippines with a long-time leading man status in the local entertainment industry, has officially launched Monday, 19 April, Dingdong, his new tech startup, which offers commerce solutions for SMEs. Without the frills, the actor goes for his namesake for the business’ official name.

Dingdong offers three solutions, namely, Dingdong Delivery, Dingdong E-commerce, and Dingdong Marketplace.

Dantes, whose real name is Jose Sixto Raphael Dantes, rose into popularity by the terse screen name which is often anchored to the perennial humor of its reference to ‘doorbell’. And without any surprise, Dantes, who joins the band of celebrities opening up their own business ventures, uses the jovial connotation to his advantage, adopting the tagline – “You Ring it, We Bring it” for its delivery services.

Dingdong delivery

Its delivery service was first piloted to the market in August 2020 as a response to the blow of the pandemic on businesses’ economy and peoples’ livelihood. Meanwhile, its e-commerce API for SMEs is currently underway, while its online marketplace serves as the platform that merges both its delivery and e-commerce, offering consumers a place to make their food delivery orders.

The realization of the tech solutions firm, Dantes credits, to a time in 2019 when his wife, equally prime actress in the country Marian Rivera-Dantes, had to accomplish a delivery for her flower arrangement business in which the male Dantes had to step in, and thereafter, sparking the idea to bring a delivery service himself to fruition.

In partnership with software enterprise solutions company and PLDT-backed, Multisys Technologies Corporation, Dingdong’s delivery service helps businesses and organizations to fulfill their last-mile delivery requirements. Meanwhile, Dingdong E-Commerce enables all entrepreneurs to promote and sell products in an online marketplace with user-friendly tools that automate the management of products, inventory, and orders. Its e-commerce solution also allows companies and businesses to aggregate with other merchants in a unified digital marketplace. Committed to becoming the leading and most trusted e-commerce platform, Dingdong E-Commerce also provides auxiliary training in general business topics like branding, accounting, taxes, and product-specific topics.

Dantes said that he recognizes first and foremost that his business venture is show business and that his strength lies in telling stories and realities through his craft. This time, he wants to be able to redirect the power of stories to uplift Dingdong’s stakeholders – its merchants, riders, and consumers, with whom they intend to grow with and improve the lives of.

“At the core of dingdong and its solutions is excellent service that we give to all our stakeholders. We believe that excellent service is the key to all our business relationships and to all the doors of innovative solutions backed by technology,” said Dantes in the virtual press conference.

Dantes added, “Dingdong as a brand, and as a service is definitely here to build lasting relationships [with] our fellow entrepreneurs, partner riders, and discerning consumers by enabling and empowering them. We understand that it is only through the empowerment of our community members that we will be able to co-create what we call the people-centric solutions that will allow all of us to thrive and progress sustainably amid adversity.”

Currently, the Dingdong marketplace is only available through a web app. Consumers can make their on-demand and pre-booked food deliveries through marketplace.dingdong.ph. Meanwhile, businesses can learn more of its solutions through dingdong.ph.

Manila, Philippines – Cebu Pacific, one of the largest airlines in the Philippines, has announced that it will now be discontinuing its CEB PH call center, starting 1 May 2021, to make way for a more contactless and self-service customer experience. 

According to the airline, the move to drop the hotlines is in line with its mission to speed up its digital transformation and to further accelerate the improvement of its overall customer experience.

Cebu Pacific has taken great strides in its customer service in the past recent years in specific touchpoints such as online booking, check-ins, booking management, and Charlie the chatbot.

In 2017, it was among the first airlines in Asia to invest in an integrated facility and technology for social intelligence and customer engagement. Then the year after, Cebu Pacific introduced its very own Charlie the chatbot which enabled passengers to receive real-time answers to common queries and transactions, and since then, Charlie has been continuously improved and is now able to respond to more queries, without the passengers having to talk to an agent.

The airline shared that by the first quarter of 2021, it has noted a total of 87% of passengers maximizing the Cebu Pacific website to directly book flights. 

Candice Iyog, the vice president for marketing and customer experience of Cebu Pacific, said that the company is glad to have started its digital transformation journey even before the pandemic, as they have come to rely on it in the new normal environment. 

“We continue to prioritize the safety and convenience of our passengers, that is why we have accelerated our digital efforts to support contactless and self-service processes. Rest assured Charlie, along with our Customer Care team, are online 24/7 to assist everyJuan. We continue to enhance existing processes as we remain committed to empowering customers and ensuring access to the information they need anytime, anywhere, without having to call the hotline or go to a ticketing office,” said Iyog. 

Manila, Philippines – ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), the news channel arm of PH media conglomerate ABS-CBN, has announced that it is canceling its partnership with Chinatown News TV, a Filipino-owned media news channel broadcast in Chinese and made by the Filipino-Chinese community in the country. This was shortly after the parties announced the tie-up.

The cancellation comes after the network received backlash from the online community, pointing to the irony of establishing a Chinese broadcast in the news channel despite growing tensions between the Philippines and China regarding vessels of the latter that are currently lingering and taking space in the disputed West Philippine Sea.

ABS-CBN has recently covered the West Philippine Sea issue with one of its journalists, Chiara Zambrano, visiting the highly-contested area along with the ABS-CBN team before being chased down by the Chinese Coast Guard.

Ging Reyes, news chief at ABS-CBN, initially defended the partnership, stating that ABS-CBN had editorial control over their content, providing national news stories and ensuring accuracy of the translation from Mandarin to English subtitles.

“ABS-CBN News has vigorously covered these issues, in our pursuit of truth and public enlightenment. But we resist discrimination against any race. or ethnicity. The airing on ANC of Chinatown News should not be equated with the intrusions in the West PH Sea. Chinatown News is produced by fellow Filipinos who belong to the Filipino-Chinese community. They are part of Philippine society,” Reyes said in her Twitter thread.

Despite the defense, many netizens have opposed the partnership.

The Philippine arm of online democratic solidarity movement Milk Tea Alliance stated that Chinatown News TV is also responsible for the controversial music video ‘Iisang Dagat’ (‘One Sea’) co-produced with the Chinese Embassy to the Philippines, as well as spreading media lies about the persecution of Uyghur Muslim minorities in Mainland China.

TV writer and producer Erwin Aurella tweeted that a ‘Chinese propaganda’ video disguised as a ‘Chinese news program’ doesn’t speak to ABS-CBN’s motto of ‘In The Service of the Filipino People’.

In line with the partnership, netizens took to Twitter and mocked the station using the hashtag #ABSCBNTutaNgChina, alluding to the network being a ‘puppy’ of Chinese propaganda.

Controversially, Chinatown News TV also aimed to promote the ‘One Belt, One Road’, a global infrastructure development strategy by the Chinese Communist Party, the sole governing party of the People’s Republic of China.

Manila, Philippines – To keep Filipinos entertained amid the pandemic lockdown, local live streaming app Kumu has officially launched its ‘Live Events’ platform, which aims to be the biggest virtual stage in the Philippines to offer its viewers live concert experiences, festivals, and parties from the comfort of their own homes.

The new ‘Live Events’ will primarily be hosted on kumu.live website, and just like any public concert or exclusive event, it will be ticketed and gated, which is in contrast to the standard Kumu live stream shows that are open to public viewing.

Mariel Bitanga, the head of Kumu ‘Live Events’, said that they hope to bring the party experience to the live stream community, and provide them access to their favorite artists in fully produced events through the new platform.

She further shared that the Kumu ‘Live Events’ would still have Kumu’s usual engagement features, and in addition, will have special features lined up, such as private post-show engagement features, replicating the ‘after-party’ experience in live in-person shows.

“As a company, Kumu always strives to elevate our users’ experience within our Kumunity. And Kumu ‘Live Events’ is definitely an exciting addition to offer our users another avenue to enjoy, engage, and connect within our space,” added Bitanga. 

More details on Live Events’ ticket selling, sign-ups, and musical performance line-up to be announced available within the month of April.

Manila, Philippines – In the mid of the COVID-19 pandemic, food has been a frequent topic that sparks hearty discussions for Filipinos on Twitter, expressing their love for food and channeling their inner chefs, as seen on the #DalgonaCoffee, #UbeCheesePandesal, and other food trends that happened during the lockdown.

According to Twitter, just in 2020 alone, there were over 7 million food and drink mentions in the Philippines, which proves that moments with food or just the thought of food alone invites people to share and tweet about it. Out of all the consumer-packaged goods in the market, food is the most talked about on Twitter in 2020 with 57%, followed by drinks with 20%, alcohol with 9%, and beauty with 7%. Food became a conversation starter and an expression of care and concern. In addition, most of the conversations about food at home are on ‘ulam’, which means ‘dish’ in the Filipino Language.

Chandan Deep, the head of emerging business at Twitter SEA, said that conversations on food are highly welcome because people are very passionate about it and they actively engage in these discussions, which is why the buzz keeps on growing. 

“In fact, food conversations on Twitter increased in 2020 as more foodies became active in sharing their activities or thoughts related to food. These observations are vital because they help us understand how food conversations evolved during the pandemic. Knowing what’s happening around this community, from how or where to find them, is also helpful for brands as they navigate and make relevant campaigns moving forward,” added Deep.

Twitter has also recorded other insights on Filipino foodies on the platform such as the popularity of home-cooked meals which came about during the lockdown period. About 50% of Filipinos on Twitter shared that they spent more time cooking at home, and more than 1/2 of Filipinos on Twitter are searching the platform for products to buy. 

Filipino users were also found to tweet before eating, which presents a marketing opportunity for food brands to promote their products, as 50% of Filipinos discover new brands through the platform. Meanwhile, another popular topic on the app is food for special occasions. Many Filipinos order food from their favorite restaurants or newfound local shops during special days and tweet about it.

With this, Twitter believes that food and beverage brands must consistently share their stories, and create strategies to launch campaigns and connect through different ways, be it through graphics, videos, or something experimental and new such as Fleets, a new way to post content on Twitter that will disappear after 24 hours.

Manila, Philippines – As the company celebrates its 40th anniversary, Filipino bakery Julie’s Bakeshop has launched a new campaign with local-based creative agency GIGIL, centered around the theme of dealing with ageist remarks toward middle-aged women, or the so-called ‘tita shamers’ – tita being the Filipino equivalent of an aunt. 

The campaign opens as two titas are seen doing exercises in a gym. They are then mocked by a man who begins to blurt out discriminatory remarks such as telling them that the aerobics section is on the other side of the building, or chiding them to take care of their manicured nails, as well as mocking them to take their prescribed medication. Then Auntie Julie, the face of Julie’s Bakeshop, enters the scene and ‘kneads’ the man to become dough and then baked into bread.

Ending with a message of #StopTitaShaming (#StopAuntieShaming), the campaign aims to remind that that despite being relatively in their 40s, the titas are still capable of doing things, just like how Julie’s Bakeshop is committed to baking fresh bread after 40 years since its establishment in 1981.

“When you say ‘Auntie,’ it doesn’t automatically mean you’re talking about women who are stuffy and formal. Aunties can be cool and very dynamic. Our founder, Mrs. Julie Gandionco, was already in her 50s when she decided to start her own bakeshop. Now it’s grown to a network of more than 450 stores all over the Philippines,” said Marc San Juan, national marketing head of Julie’s Bakeshop.

To date, the film has garnered more than 1.8 million views on their Facebook page alone, with 20k shares across the platform.