Globe GCash Soon Good for Online Purchases

Globe Telecom's GCash mobile wallet

At the GSM Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Globe Telecom launched a customer strategy for the unbanked — paying for mobile apps and other Web goods through GCash, its internationally acclaimed micro payment service that transforms a mobile phone into a virtual wallet for money transfers at the speed and cost of a text message.

Though the Philippines has over 70 million mobile phone subscribers that have catapulted it as the world’s text messaging capital, its market is traditionally constrained by low credit card ownership that hampers full participation in today’s digital life.

To start off the service, Globe has partnered with Research in Motion (RIM) to allow Globe subscribers using BlackBerry devices to charge purchases for mobile applications from the BlackBerry App World onto their monthly-postpaid bill or prepaid account credits. The new service is expected to roll out in the second quarter this year.

A tie-up with American Express will roll out an online payment solution that will enable Globe subscribers to purchase goods such as electronics, toys, apparel, and many other goods from popular US and UK online sites that accept American Express.

Read more at CRM Innovation

Photo by GSMA MMU at Flickr.com

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Wells Fargo to Outsource to the Philippines

Wells Fargo Center sign

Despite all the political pressures in the United States for businesses not to outsource, the second largest American banking company, Wells Fargo and Co., will proceed in moving some its business support activities to the Philippines. For this, the U.S. bank has set up Wells Fargo Philippines Solutions Inc., which is following the footsetps of other banking giants such as JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. It is the second largest bank in the United States in terms of deposits, home mortgage servicing, and debit cards. Wells Fargo is headquartered in San Francisco, California, but has major “hubquarters” in other cities throughout the country. In 2011, Wells Fargo had more than 9,000 retail branches and 12,231 automated teller machines in 39 states and the District of Columbia. It has over 270,000 employees and over 70 million customers.

Sources: Interaksyon | Wikipedia

Photo by moneyblognewz at Flickr.com

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Study Shows Philippine Paper Money Lowest in Toxic Chemical

Philippine paper money bills

The Philippines is in the top three countries where its paper money or bills have the lowest toxic chemical called bisphenol A (BPA). This was reported in an article published at the U.S. News Health.

According to the report, “BPA is used to make some plastics and consumer products such as water bottles, household electronics and sports equipment. Research suggests that BPA is an endocrine disruptor, which means that it acts like the hormone estrogen, and may be linked to a number of health problems.”

“Researchers analyzed 156 pieces of paper money from 21 countries and found that all of the bills contained traces of BPA. Paper money from Brazil, the Czech Republic and Australia had the highest BPA levels, while bills from the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam had the lowest levels. U.S. notes had average levels, the study authors said in a news release from the American Chemical Society.”

Read more of the article at U.S. News Health

Photo by SuperDooperDapper at Flickr.com

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Dollar Remittance Tops 7.9 Billion USD January to May 2011

Photo by ronrag at Flickr.com

Remittances from overseas Filipinos rose 6.2 per cent to 7.9 billion dollars in the first five months of 2011, the Central Bank of the Philippines said Friday. In the month of May alone, remittances totaled 1.69 billion dollars, up 6.9 per cent from 1.58 billion dollars in the same month last year.

The major sources of remittances in the period were the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Japan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Italy and Germany.

Read more at Monster and Critics

Learn Financial Peace While It’s Not Too Late

I’ve attended a few seminars of Randell Tiongson, including one or two that presented Paulo Tibig and Francis Kong as speakers. I even wrote a piece in my blog How Can You Possess “Financial Freedom?” after attending Randell’s short seminar on financial planning, espousing the benefits of financial freedom.

I encourage you to spend some time and a little of your cash to educate yourself on financial planning, fnancial freedom and, this time, financial peace. Attend this one-day seminar for a “wake-upper” on how you spend (and save) your money.

Poster courtesy of RandellTiongson.com

Poster courtesy of RandellTiongson.com

Philippine government to sell P30-billion in treasury bonds

Photo by PinoyChicago at Flickr.com

The Philippine government is planning to sell P20 billion to 30 billion in retail treasury bonds this month, Eduardo Mendiola, deputy national treasurer said on Monday.

Source: ABS-CBN News

Finance Seminar Targeting the Youth 13 to 20 years old

My friend Randell Tiongson, a Registered Financial Planner (RFP) in the Philippines, together with other luminaries in the financial sector of the country, will be conducting a financial literacy seminar for the youth, ages 13 to 20 years old, this coming May.

BLUE CHIP: Financial Literacy Program for the Youth!
May 13 and 14, 2010
9:00am to 5:30pm
Victory Center, Upper Level
Promenade, Greenhills

Poster from R.Tiongson

If you have kids in this age-range, I guarantee you they’ll come out better equipped to deal with money than the combined years you’ve been teaching them. Randell and team brings a light manner of learning yet intense in its wisdom and knowledge your only reaction is to ask for more. Don’t even wink and pause looking at the price – trust me, they’re worth more than you’re paying.

To register, please contact Jenny Igancio-Magalong at 0939-117-7856 or e-mail her at jcignaciomagalong@gmail.com.

1World Cash in Hong Kong Targets Filipinos

One World Ventures, Inc., the provider of prepaid cards and 1World Cash, announced the establishment of 1World Cash Hong Kong. “Our new services are dedicated to the Filipino community at the present time,” CEO Steve Prior said. This is the first step in One World Ventures strategy to use the 1World Card and 1World Cash branded services to focus on its desire to serve the underbanked and underserved in locations like the Philippines, Indonesia, Mongolia, Mexico, United States and elsewhere.

From 1WorldCash.net

One World Ventures, Inc. is a holding company with management resourced in Asia and the United States that invests in technologies, communities and systems that facilitate trade, finance, communication and travel across international boundaries, cultures and languages.

Read more at MarketWatch.com

All About Money – Living the Life You Can Afford

Randell poked this message on his Facebook wall as a public post. I’ve been to two of Randell’s seminars and I think you ought to go to this one if you’re in town. Randell Tiongson is joined by prominent finance gurus Chinkee Tan and Cito Beltran in this unique half-day event. Randell talks about the financial roadmap to your future, Chinkee on getting out of debt, and Cito on guarding your financial future. Randell quips about this April 24 event:

What can P400.00 do for you nowadays? You can buy cell phone load, have Starbucks Coffee with your date, 2.5 meals at McDonalds, watch a movie with popcorn, buy a t-shirt on sale, buy a CD… or, attend a life-changing event that will finally put you in a path towards achieving Financial Peace.”

Call Jenny Ignacio in the Philippines at 0939-117-7856 or send an email to jcignacio.magalong@gmail.com.

New Credit Card US Federal Law goes into effect

Photo by b.franchina in Flickr.com

The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act has three separate implementation dates, 90 days, nine months and 15 months. Now that it has been nine months since the legislation was signed into law, the following provisions started today:

• Issuers can no longer charge arbitrary interest rate increases and universal default on existing balances;
• No more over-limit fees unless the cardholder elects to allow the issuer to complete over-limit transactions;
• Payments in excess of the minimum must be applied first to the credit card balance with the highest rate of interest;
• No more early morning deadlines for credit card payments;
• No more interest charges on debt paid on time;
• Issuers must get the signature of a parent, guardian, or other individual 21 years or older when extending credit to young consumers under the age of 21

Source: Atlanta Business Chronicle

More Information Required to Get a New Credit Card in United States

Photo by k9ine in Flickr.com

“It’s about time,” as I should say.

Washington Business Journal recently reported that under the new reforms of the Federal Reserve, consumers will have to provide more personal information, such as shoppers’ income and the ability to pay, before stores who normally give away credit cards on whim grants the approval. This takes effect on February 22 this year.

A funny thing – the National Retail Federation opposes the move.

Source: Washington Business Journal

Personal Finance Seminar in Bacolod City

I attended one of Randell’s seminars. I suggest you or your friends and family in Bacolod do the same – it’s worth more than what you paid for.

Source: Randell Tiongson’s Website.

Send Money to the Philippines for FREE

XOOM - one of the biggest worldwide money transfer service

Remittance king Xoom.com has launched a new program that allows overseas and migrant Filipinos, or practically anyone for that matter, to send money to the Philippines for free. The catch includes two things:

 

(1) The first transfer is FREE of any fees;

(2) The coupon code will expire in seven (7) days

When you login to the XOOM.com website, you have to enter the coupon code XOOM4FREE located at the bottom of the “Payments Page”.

For more information, call XOOM in North America through 1-888-993-3966 or go to their Help Center website.

Wells Fargo Eliminates Remittance Transfer Fees To Philippines

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) —with its remittance network member Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) – is temporarily eliminating all remittance transfer fees (normally $5 or $7) for customers sending money using the ExpressSend® service to friends and family in the Philippines impacted by Typhoon Ketsana (also known as Typhoon Ondoy). The fee waiver is effective September 29 through October 12, 2009.

ExpressSend customers can send up to $3,000 a day for $5 if originated from an eligible Wells Fargo account (or $7 if originated from cash). The fee will be waived September 29 through October 12, 2009. Recipients can claim their funds at more than 800 branches and 1,500 plus ATMs throughout the Philippines.

Read more at [Wells Fargo article].

Banco Sentral to Cut Fees on Remittance

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has agreed (in principle) to reduce fees on fund transfers, as much as 5 Pesos per transaction. BSP is encouring the member-banks of the Association of Bank Remittance Officers (ABROI) to do the same by coursing its remittances through the BSP’S Philippine Payments and Settlements Systems. BSP wants ABROI and the Bankers Association of the Philippines to standardize all backend processing fees to lower the cost of remitting funds. Current bank process fees go as much as 250 Pesos per transaction for same day deliveries.

Source: Manila Bulletin.

August 24, 2009 Philippine Economy Update

Click here to read the article.

About Randell Tiongson:  Randell is an Entrepreneur and a Personal Finance Coach & Educator. He is President & COO of Personal Finance Advisers Philippines Corp. and co-founder of http://www.income-tacts.com, the country’s premiere personal finance on-line forums. It’s an on-line community that is dedicated to the financial education of Filipinos. It now has over 2,300 members in 1 year’s time. He is also Director of the Registered Financial Planner Institute Philippines (local chapter of RFPI, Ohio, U.S.A.). Randell has 20+ years of experience in the Financial Service Industries – Banking, Mutual Funds & Insurance. He is a columnist for the Business Mirror and a contributor for Moneysense Magazine and UNO Magazine. A featured speaker for educational institutions like the Asian Institute of Management, Ateneo, De La Salle, Mapua University, University of Santo Tomas, La Salle Greenhills; De La Salle University, University of the Philippines and various conferences and companies, he appears as a resource person for various TV shows like TV Patrol, Bandila, Mornings at ANC, Shoptalk, Business Nightly, Light Talk, Sis, Umagang Kay Ganda, etc. Randell has been married for 18 years with 4 children.

Read and subscribe to his blog at http://www.randelltiongson.com.

Remembering PGMA’S 2001-2008 SONA

Here’s a great article from Filipino Voices capturing the many highlights of Arroyo’s past eight State of the Nationa Addresses. As Flowell Galindez writes, “In her 9th year in her term as the president of the Philippines from replacing the ousted president Joseph Ejercito Estrada and her re-election on 2004 let’s recall and run down details of her 8 State of the Nation Address as we prepare to listen on her last on the 27th of July.”

Click here to read the Filipino Voices article.

More than US$10B Transferred from UAE in 2008

Foreign workers in the United Arab Emirates transfer more than US$10 billion per annum to their home markets, making UAE the second highest performer in the area in fund remittance, according to Money Transfer International (MTI), the global trade association. Remittances to the Philippines from the UAE reached more than $584 million in 2008. More than 40% of all Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) are based in the Middle East and 10.5% live and work in the UAE.

Money Transfer International (MTI) is an international trade association dedicated to promoting the development and interests of the global remittances industry.  It is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantees and incorporated in the United Kingdom. The association has offices in London, Singapore and Beijing.

Search for Ten Outstanding Expat Pinoy Children

The Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI) is holding a contest in search for the “Ten Outstanding Expat Pinoy Children,” which the bank started in 2007. Applicants for the contest must be children of expatriate Filipinos with existing contracts in another country, ages 15 to 21 years old, currently enrolled in school and must be in the top 10 percent of their class. Also, their parents must be current depositors of the bank. The nomination form can be downloaded from www.bpiexpressonline.com.ph or www.bpidirect.com.ph under Promo Page-Remittance.

RCBC Bank Courts OFW

The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) recently came out with their new program intended for the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW). Called the “Dollar Dragon Savings Account,” this bank account allows OFWs to earn through a higher interest rate and allows easys access to their cash with unlimited withdrawals and no service fees tied to it.

Philippines Need Not Borrow Money – For Now

The Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (or Central Bank of the Philippins) told various news media that the country does not have to resort to borrowing more money because of its “healthy position” regarding its balance of payments (BOP). This is strengthened by the robust influx of currency remittances to the country. Last year, the country hit a little less than $90 million in BOP surplus; the first four months of 2009 has also posted a moderate surplus.

PDIC vs. Splitting Deposits

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) is looking to implement new rules to counter the method of some unscrupulous person of splitting bank deposits and creating dummy accounts to take advantage of the insurance for deposits. Pres. Arroyo recently signed into law doubling the insurance coverage per bank account to 500 thousand Pesos.