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eTravel pains
You know it’s a popular season for traveling when television news outlets are already reporting live from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to check if there are already hordes of passengers preparing to leave town or the country during the Holy Week break......»»
Singaporean embassy in India extends Holi wishes, shares images of celebrations in Barsana
New Delhi [India], March 24 (ANI): As Indians across the world geared up to ring in the festival of colours, the Singaporean embassy in the national capital extended its greetings for Holi, wishing that the festival would bring peace and joy to all. It also shared mesmerising pictures of Holi celebrations in one of India's oldest and most popular pilgrimage sites, Barsana, in Uttar Pradesh. A post on the official X handle.....»»
Singaporean embassy in India extends Holi wishes, shares images of celebrations in Barsana
New Delhi [India], March 24 (ANI): As Indians across the world geared up to ring in the festival of colours, the Singaporean embassy in the national capital extended its greetings for Holi, wishing that the festival would bring peace and joy to all. It also shared mesmerising pictures of Holi celebrations in one of India's oldest and most popular pilgrimage sites, Barsana, in Uttar Pradesh. A post on the official X handle.....»»
Food vlogger Kevin Garcia reveals how he earns from social media
Content creator Kevin Garcia, the man behind the popular vlog Eat’s A Small World, revealed how food vloggers like him earn through social media. .....»»
Google Drive Going Dark Soon?
It seems like the highly popular cloud storage service Google Drive will go dark soon – as in dark mode, for its web version so people who are on the dark side can enjoy their favorite cloud storage platform without squinting their eyes. The report comes from a post from 9to5google, as they’ve received a […].....»»
Banks’ bad loans ratio highest in 8 months
The share of bad loans to the banking sector’s total loan book went up to an eight-month high in January, snapping two straight months of decline, as borrowers felt the pinch of elevated interest rates......»»
PDIC extends loan incentive program for closed bank borrowers
PDIC extends loan incentive program for closed bank borrowers.....»»
GSIS offers to condone, restructure overdue loans
State-run pension fund Government Service Insurance System is offering a condonation and restructuring program for its borrowers with overdue loans......»»
Online lending worse than 5-6
During his term, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte declared his intention to eradicate the 5-6 system, which ensnares our fellow Filipinos in perpetual debt bondage. True to his word, in 2016, he initiated a crackdown on the 5-6 lending scheme and issued warnings to foreigners involved that they would face arrest and deportation. The 5-6 lending scheme offers small loans at a hefty interest rate of 20 percent per month until fully paid. It is primarily attractive to poor people and small businesses because it requires no collateral or other stringent requirements. The name 5-6 originates from lending P5,000 and expecting P6,000 in return after one month. Although some criticize this practice, it has aided numerous small and medium-sized enterprises, as our banking system often makes it exceedingly challenging to secure loans. This has made the government realize the importance of providing easier access to formal sources of credit. This has become a battle cry to the banking and financial sectors in collaboration with the government. This financial inclusion as an aspect of governance will be discussed in a different article. Enter today’s online lending services. I can readily say they are far worse than 5-6, with interest rates reaching 30-40 percent in just seven days. These rates are difficult to repay and keep borrowers in perpetual financial bondage. As an Undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, I have received complaints from my fellow citizens regarding this practice and its illegal collection methods. These violate the Financial Products and Consumer Protection Act, the Lending Company Regulation Act, and the Data Privacy Act. These criminal offenses can incur fines of up to P2,000,000. Apart from the unethical and sometimes outright criminal tactics these online companies employ to collect debts, we need to emphasize the excessive interest rates they impose. One example shared with me provides the following details: Loan Terms: Credit Amount P12,000 Period 180 days Assessment Fee P840 Platform Fee P1,560 Payment Expense P960 Transfer Charge P25 Amount Received P8,615 Total Interest P1,764 Payment upon Due Date P13,764 In the illustration above, despite stating a loan period of 180 days, the due date is only within seven days, with a nominal fee of 100 pesos due in 180 days, which is waived if you pay the total amount within seven days. From the above illustration, when you borrow P12,000, you receive an amount of P8,615, and within seven days, you are required to repay P13,764, which is an additional 37.4 percent of the received amount. This online borrowing scheme makes the 5-6 system appear far less obnoxious. It even makes the latter system seem reasonable. Upon further inquiry, I discovered that when you download these types of online apps, you must grant permission for them to access your location, contacts, and camera. In addition to contacting emergency references during debt collection, some lenders even send collection messages to those in your contact list, which may include your friends. This is deeply concerning. The practice could be more intrusive and unnecessary. On top of the data protection, cybercrime, and privacy issues it legally straddles, the ethical considerations alone are worth noting. This is only the beginning of my investigation into this issue, and I hope that, with the assistance of our government, we can crack down on illegal and heartless lending practices that are plaguing our country, leading to the closure of these predatory lending companies and the imprisonment of their owners. The post Online lending worse than 5-6 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
SBCorp.: Financing gap yawns P400B
Department of Trade and Industry attached agency Small Business Corporation is seeing the financial gap, or the inability of private banks, lending firms, and the government’s lending arms to provide loans is now ranging from P300 billion to P400 billion. “Even if we put together government banking institutions providing loans to entrepreneurs, as well as savings and loans associations and cooperatives, the country’s financial gap still lacks from P300 to P400 billion. That’s our estimate based on our study,” Robert Bastillo, SBCorp president, exclusively told the DAILY TRIBUNE during his interview in the paper’s online show, Straight Talk. Bastillo said this is the main reason why small entrepreneurs have become baits to traditional loan sharks, colloquially known as the “5-6” scheme associated with Indian nationals, instead of formal sources of loans. They would rather close shop “This was also the reason why some businessmen opted to stop their enterprises due to this financial gap problem in the country. They would rather close shop. In fact, the International Finance Corporation estimated that the financial gap in the country is from P12 to P13 trillion, but we contradicted that because the economy of the country is not that huge,” he said. Bastillo said the whole portfolio of the banking sector in the country is approximately P8 trillion. With the huge financial gap, Bastillo said SBCorp’s P10 billion budget allocation is indeed not enough to fill in the gap. He said that’s why they have formulated programs to influence the financing sector so that MSMEs will look fundable to financial institutions, just like SBCorp’s P3 or the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso program. The P3 Program is a financing initiative by government to assist micro-entrepreneurs throughout the country by providing affordable and cost-efficient microloans, “But if the P3 will be coursed through cooperatives, then we give only a 2 percent interest rate per year. Cooperatives can stretch the interest rate by as much as 30 percent per year. But cooperatives nowadays provide only a 2 percent interest rate,” according to Bastillo. Bastillo said that if the P3 is directly availed from SBCorp., they will provide the loan at one percent per month or 12 percent per year, but with a diminishing effect, compared to other private banking institutions. Good players MSMEs that are good payers can be rewarded by a lower interest rate of up to 10 percent per annum if they will avail of another loan, Bastillo said. The scheme is a funding program that will provide an alternative source of financing for microentrepreneurs that is easy and quick to access, and is seen to give a boost to the micro enterprises sector, which comprises the bulk of Philippine micro, small, and medium enterprises. The program also aims to stabilize informal lending, locally known as 5-6 lending, and prevent micro-entrepreneurs from falling victim to usurious lenders. Added funding Meanwhile, Bastillo insisted that if funding for the SB Corp. is added by the government, more microloans will be ushered into MSMEs. “If the capital of P10 Billion, provided by the Magna Carta for MSMEs, will be raised around P50 to P100 billion, then we will be able to help more borrowers. However, it would take time to realize this, as amendments are needed to the Magna Carta for this request. Right now, it is still at the Committee level at the House of Representatives,” according to Bastillo. The post SBCorp.: Financing gap yawns P400B appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
DBP backs NG’s logistics action plan
State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is prepared to extend the needed technical and financial assistance to strategic initiatives that would ensure the successful implementation of the Marcos administration’s three-year logistics master plan aimed at reducing the cost of commodities particularly food, a top official said. DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Michael O. De Jesus said the bank would work closely with the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, and other government agencies and key stakeholders to modernize the food distribution system and storage and to address prevailing supply chain gaps. “DBP is one with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s goal of ensuring reliable food supply at reasonable prices for all Filipinos,” De Jesus said. “DBP will leverage on its experience and financial capability to support key programs to support this goal.” DBP is the eighth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and provides strategic financing support to critical economic sectors such as infrastructure and logistics, micro, small and medium enterprises, social services, and the environment. In August this year, President Marcos, Jr. approved the country’s three-year food logistics action agenda aimed at promoting food availability, accessibility, and affordability through strategies that would modernize the country’s food distribution system, increase investments in logistics infrastructure, and address other supply chain gaps. De Jesus said that as of the end of the first half of 2023, DBP has allocated P281.6 billion for projects under the infrastructure and logistics sector, representing 55.5 percent of its total loan to borrowers amounting to P506.9-billion. He said total loan releases to the sector have reached P45.5 billion while deals in the pipeline are around P18.5 billion for the period covering January to June this year. "As of July this year, DBP has approved a total of P25.55-billion in loans for 189 borrowers nationwide under the auspices of the Bank’s Connecting Rural Urban Intermodal Systems Efficiently (CRUISE) program, which serves as our flagship facility for transport infrastructure and logistics sector,” De Jesus said. The post DBP backs NG’s logistics action plan appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
MSMEs good payers — SB Corp.
The micro, small and medium entrepreneurs are being extolled by Small Business Corporation, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, for being good payers even though some of them have already closed shop because of the global contagion three years ago. During his guest appearance at the Daily Tribune’s digital show Straight Talk on Wednesday, SB Corp. president Robert Bastillo said almost one-third of the lenders catered to by SB Corp. have closed their businesses during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The good thing is that these MSME lenders are still paying their debts even if their businesses were shuttered. These are indeed entrepreneurs as they want to have a good reputation and a good track record when it comes to debt. That is important for us. But still, the majority of the lenders are good payers even though some are delayed,” he said. The past-due rate of SB Corp. during the pandemic was 30 percent, considering that most funds in its portfolio were released during the pandemic. Past due rate manageable The past-due rate refers to the lenders who are delayed in their payments. Currently, the past-due rate of SB Corp. is from 20 to 25 percent, considered by Bastillo as healthy, considering that the country is just coping with the pandemic crisis. From 2019 to date, Bastillo said SB Corp.’s total direct MSME lenders are now at 55,000, while those courses through cooperatives, micro-finance institutions, and private financing companies — or what they call loan conduits — are now reaching 300,000. “SB Corp. lenders can borrow from P30,000 up to P20 million maximum. Lenders up to P5 million do not need collateral, but first-time borrowers can only borrow up to P3 million. If they are good payers, they can expand their loan after six months,” he said. No stringent requirements required In terms of process, SB Corp. does not require stringent requirements for MSMEs if they are only lending up to P100,000. “We only require other requirements, such as a Mayor’s Permit, among others if they are already asking more than P100,000. We have credit scoring in place based on the lender’s assets or annual sales. That’s a discipline in lending and a risk management procedure,” he said. SB Corp.’s fund being ushered to MSME lenders is coming from its corporate equity, being a corporation. Inadequate revolving fund “We have a capital of P10 billion, but what has been given to us for the past 28 years, was P2 billion. It’s a revolving fund that is not enough. The P10 billion was given in full in the last pandemic, but those are meant for dying MSMEs. It’s hard during that time,” according to Bastillo. He said even the salaries of their employees are coming from the revolving funds, as they are given by the government annual appropriations because they are a corporation that is supposed to earn money. “We live within what we earn. It is difficult in the sense that it is also challenging. How do you help and keep yourself afloat when everybody around you is struggling? That is our problem during the pandemic. But we are happy to say that despite that, we have a modest income, and we were able to serve MSMEs very fast,” he said. According to Bastillo, MSMEs with P100,000 to P3 million worth of assets are considered micro, MSMEs that have an asset of P3 million to P15 million are considered medium, while those with 100 million assets are considered large entrepreneurs. The country’s MSMEs dominate the entrepreneurial environment, accounting for more than 99.5 percent, 80 percent of which are micro. The SB Corp. is a government financial institution created in January 1991 under Republic Act 6977 or the Magna Carta for Small Enterprises, amended by RA 8289 in 1997 and RA 9501 in 2008. It has the primary responsibility of implementing comprehensive policies and programs to assist MSMEs in all areas, including but not limited to finance and information services, training and marketing. The post MSMEs good payers — SB Corp. appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
The Daily Guardian: Biden Administration Forgives $37 Million in Student Debt for Defrauded Borrowers
Title: Biden Administration Erases $37 Million in Student Debt for University of Phoenix Students Date: [Insert Date] Byline: [Author Name] In a significant move towards.....»»
Maharlika’s questions linger (1)
The ink of BBM’s signature on the law creating the Maharlika Investment Corporation, or MIC, is now dry, and the Implementing Rules and Regulations have been issued. But still, the criticisms continue unabated from Pinoy kibitzers, i.e., management experts, private economic think tanks, to the top echelons of leading business organizations. Over the weekend, as the MIC’s partial start-up capital was remitted to the National Treasury, a leading periodical (not DAILY TRIBUNE) headlined the claim of the leadership of DBP, Michael de Jesus, that “gains from MIC’s trailblazing activities” will surely be forthcoming by the end of BBM’s term. Yet beneath the headline of the same broadsheet was a reference to well-regarded businessman George Barcelon, PCCI president and an esteemed fellow member of the Rotary Club of Makati, who said the MIC should have first finalized its board and management line-ups before DBP and Landbank made any contributions. Further, during the Institute of Corporate Directors-sponsored talk on the MIC of Dr. Bernardo Villegas last week, several ICD fellow members raised questions to Doc Bernie and the panel composed of yours truly and fellow governance advocate Francisco del Rosario. Not only that, several friends in my Upsilon Sigma Phi and AIM chat groups, who count among them several well-informed, leading management and business lights of our country, had concerns and comments about the MIC. Given this apparent continuing widespread interest from people whom I have great respect for and who certainly have only the best interest of the country in mind in voicing their observations, I would like to give it a shot and share what I believe are the key issues that are perennially raised and my own reactions to these comments. Do we need another GOCC when other agencies and GOCCs are in place? There is a frequent reference to NDC, a GOCC under the DTI with a long history of hits and misses. It has historically ventured into businesses that the private sector would generally not be interested in but nevertheless deemed important for the country’s economic development. However, saddled with relatively modest capital and some under- and non-performing assets on its balance sheet, NDC has never really figured in any blockbuster transactions or has high-potential assets that could catch the interest of multilateral or global venture funds. The bottom line, surely prospective foreign investors would rather partner with a GOCC that has a clean balance sheet, significant capital, is manned by leading management and investment experts, and is supported by a board composed of the highest economic agencies in the country. Mandating LandBank and DBP to invest P75 billion in the MIC will deprive other borrowers needing credit, such as farmers and MSMEs. Indeed, it will theoretically reduce their loanable funds to this extent. However, a cursory look at LandBank’s latest published financial statements will indicate that loans and receivables are only at about 30 percent of total assets, suggesting that they are underlending relative to their lending capacity. In fact, during the Senate hearings on MIC, I recall the bank officials disclosing that almost 90 percent of their liquidity is invested in government securities. Why this is so is another story. Furthermore, other than BSP regulatory constraints, these GFIs are not geared, philosophically and organizationally, to be investing in equity, particularly of long-term duration, i.e., non-allied undertakings such as infrastructure or the agriculture sector, which are expected to be the MIC’s target investee industries. MIC will bypass the budget and appropriations process, reducing the government’s resources that could otherwise have been made available for the country’s other needs. Yes, MIC will bypass the budget and appropriation process because perhaps that was the whole intention. But as noted by Dr. Villegas in his ICD talk, with our current deficit, the national budget is intended for the country’s pressing operating needs. In contrast, the long-term capital funding required for infra and the like is precisely the funding gap that MIC could fill through joint ventures with foreign investors. Until next week… OBF! *** For comments, email bing_matoto@yahoo.com. (To be continued) The post Maharlika’s questions linger (1) appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Pag-IBIG sets record anew as home loans reach P76.94-B in Jan-Aug, up 6%
Pag-IBIG Fund has released P76.94 billion in home loans in the last eight months, breaking its record on the highest home loan disbursement for any January to August period, agency officials announced on Friday, 15 September. “We are happy to report that Pag-IBIG Fund has once again set a record high in terms of home loan releases during the first eight months of the year. The sustained growth of our home loans means that more and more Filipino workers are being helped by the Pag-IBIG Fund to have homes they can call their own. This is one of our ways to heed the call of President Marcos to provide sustainable and inclusive housing for Filipinos,” said Secretary Jose Rizalino L. Acuzar, who heads the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees. Acuzar added that the amount of home loans released by the agency during the period is P4.23 billion or 6 percent higher compared to the P72.71 billion released during the same period in 2022, and financed 59,840 homes of Pag-IBIG Fund members. He further noted that out of this total number, 7,450 or 12 percent are members from the minimum-wage and low-income sectors, who were able to secure a total of P3.15 billion in socialized home loans. Meanwhile, Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene C. Acosta noted that the agency expects to sustain its performance for the remainder of the year, mainly driven by the agency’s move to lower its home loan rates last July. “We thank our members for choosing and trusting the Pag-IBIG Housing Loan to help them achieve their dream of homeownership. We assure our borrowers that we shall do all that we can to maintain the low rates of their loans and keep their monthly payments affordable. This is because we at Pag-IBIG Fund highly value sustainability, so that our current borrowers can maintain their ability to pay their loans and allow even more members to avail of our home financing programs. With four months to go before we end the year, we are optimistic that we shall once again set a banner year in the home loan front, and thus empower more Filipinos to become homeowners,” Acosta said. The post Pag-IBIG sets record anew as home loans reach P76.94-B in Jan-Aug, up 6% appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Probe abusive lending firms — solon
Senator Raffy Tulfo on Wednesday urged his colleagues in the upper chamber to investigate the abusive debt collection practices of lending companies in the country. Tulfo filed Senate Resolution 746 directing the appropriate committee to “conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the rampant unfair debt collection practices of lending companies” to further strengthen measures that would protect consumers’ right to privacy, security and property. Tulfo lamented that these lending companies allegedly harass borrowers and utilizing abusive means to collect debts from borrowers. Some lending companies, he said, even posts libelous and defamatory remarks on social media of buy and sell groups, collecting payment from random contacts of their borrowers, and sending coffins and death threats. Tulfo cited provisions of Republic Act 11765 or the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act, that specifically prohibit financial service providers from making threats to take action against their clients. The law also prohibits the practice of contacting persons on the borrower’s contact list, other than those who were named as guarantors or co-makers of the loan. The post Probe abusive lending firms — solon appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
BSP enhancement for fair price determination to take effect Friday
Further enhancements to the transmission of monetary policy actions, through fair and transparent price discovery for borrowers and lenders, is set to take effect by the end of this week, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas......»»
Fuse Lending mulls tie-up with small lenders
Fuse Lending Inc., a subsidiary of Globe Telecom Inc., is exploring partnerships with community-based stores and small lenders like cooperatives to provide business loans to more micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs. “We have no partnerships with cooperatives but there are discussions with some. Nothing is final yet. But we’re always open to partnerships,” Baby Aquino, Fuse vice president for strategy and chief of product, told the Daily Tribune last Wednesday at an event by GCash and Fuse entitled “Borrow for Tomorrow” in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Fuse and Globe’s GCash provide a range of loan products using the mobile app. Fuse said 35 percent of its P100-billion loan disbursements as of July went to MSMEs. In terms of client locations, 70 percent are based in Metro Manila. Best way to reach the market “There are many who have expressed interest in partnering with us. We have a dedicated department for big partnerships but it also focuses on tapping retail shops and sari-sari stores. This is the best way to reach the market,” Aquino said Aquino said the firm is maximizing artificial intelligence or AI to determine possible business loan borrowers based on their behaviors when using GCash’s various transactions. “We’re using AI because customers don’t declare all the time that they are doing retail business on the side. For these customers, we give different communications or messages,” she said. Based on clients’ feedback, Aquino said many MSME owners need bigger amounts but for short-term use. “We continue to explore other products which can offer bigger loan amounts. Retail shops really appreciate that we can enable them to have stocks for their products but with GGives because they often are not able to sell all their inventory in one day or short period of time,” Aquino explained. GLoan offers credit up to P125,000 on a one-at-a-time disbursement with repayment period of up to 24 months. GGives, on the other hand, offer multiple loans at the same time with a total amount of up to P125,000 which is paid in installments. Campaign in public markets As the Christmas season starts in the Philippines as early as this month, she said Fuse and GCash will be putting up campaigns, including financial literacy activities, in various public areas including public markets to reach MSMEs that will be setting up their stalls to sell products for Christmas gifts. “We’ll not stop and focus on MSMEs because there are still many of them to serve. They can use bigger credit amounts to buy additional stocks of their products and so increase their sales, as well,” Aquino said. GCash’s marketplace links clients with financing firms and banks that can provide bigger amounts for long-term goals, such as purchase of equipment or real estate. The post Fuse Lending mulls tie-up with small lenders appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Even Indian lenders drawn to SBCorp’s P3
A high-ranking official of a Department of Trade and Industry-attached agency has revealed that even traditional Indian lenders based in the Philippines want to avail of the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-Asenso, or P3, Program of the government. Small Business Corporation or SBCorp president and CEO Robert Bastillo made the revelation when he guested on the second Daily Tribune’s Asian Innovation Forum on Tuesday. He said half of the funds allocated to P3 are meant for cooperatives, micro-finance institutions, and private financing companies that have members that can easily access micro-entrepreneurs, particularly those who own sari-sari or small stores. “P3 was conceptualized to combat loan sharks or informal money lenders. When we visited a cooperative in a municipality in Bicol recently, we discovered that Indian lenders were now lowering their interest rate to 5 percent per month,” Bastillo said. “Surprisingly, some Indian lenders even wanted to avail themselves of our P3 program. If that is the case, it means the program has an impact,” he added. He explained that SBCorp is ready to provide funding to micro and small entrepreneurs to eventually expand operations in the long run or when banking institutions are not yet ready to provide MSE loans to them due to a lack of a banking track record. “That is why we are asking Congress to add more funds to SBCorp. The current fund is not enough to help MSMEs in their entrepreneurial journey,” he said. SBCorp estimated that there is a P300 to P400 billion financing gap in the country, which means that banking institutions, even cooperatives, and microfinancing institutions are not able to respond to the needs of MSE lenders. “We are asking for P50 billion for our total capital, including our current fund. While for the P3, we are aiming to make it a full-fledged law for it to have automatic appropriations. We aim that 10 to 15 percent of the current financing gap will be given to us, enough to serve MSEs and cooperatives, among others,” he said. In March 2023, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading of House Bill 7363, or the proposed P3 Act, with an overwhelming 278 votes. The “P3 Act aims to provide an affordable, accessible, and simple financing program for MSEs, especially those in the poorest populations and underserved areas. HB 7363 mandates the creation of the P3 Fund, which shall be lent out to qualified MSEs under such terms and conditions that will meet the purposes of the Act. The P3 Fund shall be accessible through the SBCorp. and accredited partner financial institutions such as rural banks, thrift banks, development banks, cooperative banks, cooperatives, non-stock savings and loan associations, microfinance non-government organizations and lending companies. Currently, the P3 Program, with an annual allocation of P1.5 billion from the national government, is intended to provide micro-entrepreneurs with an alternative source of financing that is easy to access at a reasonable interest rate, that is in a safe environment away from dubious practices of informal lenders, and that is sustainable as delinquent borrowers are effectively barred from borrowing in the next loan cycle. Under the P3 Program, a microenterprise can borrow between P5,000 and P200,000, depending on its business status and repayment capacity, with no collateral requirement. Interest rates and service fees, all in, do not exceed 2.5 percent monthly. The post Even Indian lenders drawn to SBCorp’s P3 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Credit card literacy revs up as use rises
The Credit Information Corporation continues its campaign for wise and safe use of credit cards as more Filipinos shift to cashless payments. CIC, along with the Credit Card Association of the Philippines, or CCAP, will hold the “Swipesmart” free webinar on 31 August on their Facebook page from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. CIC on its website announced the webinar will discuss the responsible use of credit cards to build a good credit rating for easier access to loans and cybersecurity for prevention of financial theft. CCAP executive director Alex Ilagan said cases of credit card fraud have risen by 21 percent in 2021 amid the pandemic as interactions were conducted through remote technology. During this period, Visa Philippines said more Filipinos or 52 percent preferred online credit card payments while 44 percent chose card payments at physical stores. Rise in cards use inevitable CCAP expects more Filipinos to use credit cards as the Philippine Statistics Authority projected more income earners in the country with a 1.52 percent population growth each year and more businesses both online and physical open post-pandemic. Currently, 64 percent of the population own credit cards, CCAP reported. “As the economy continues to reopen and becomes more robust, pent-up demand for consumer goods and services will persist, feeding into the growth of the e-commerce, retail and services, travel and tourism, automotive, and housing sectors, among others,” Ilagan said. “A credit card is one way to extend your purchasing power,” he continued. Credit cards are used for small to medium purchases. For long-term and bigger purchases, banks strictly evaluate borrowers’ credit card histories submitted by the CIC as required by law. CIC shared it has obtained credit data of 41.8 million individuals as of 30 June 2023. Visit www.creditinfo.gov.ph for the registration link to the webinar. The post Credit card literacy revs up as use rises appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»