Lifestyle

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) and the non-profit Center for Art, New Ventures, and Sustainable Development (CANVAS.PH) recently co-hosted a two-part webinar series on digital art in the age of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to help artists, buyers, and collectors of digital art better understand how these tokens work and how they can participate in the NFT art economy.

The main speaker was NFT specialist Migui Planas, a member of UnionBank’s Digital Asset Markets Unit (DAMU), who shared vital NFT expertise as well as his experiences as an NFT art aficionado. Jonathan Roque, Product Manager at the Bank’s Blockchain Center of Excellence (BCOE), Miguel Elbinias, Liquidity Trader at DAMU, and Cathy Casas, Head of Blockchain and API Business Group, were among the panelists.

The conversation revolved around topics relevant to NFT artists — the impact of NFT on the ownership and sale of digital art, how to mint a piece of artwork as an NFT, how to determine the value of their art, and the marketplaces where they can sell their art.

On day 2 of the webinar, the discussion focused on learnings shared by NFT art buyers and collectors — how they can resell the NFT artwork that they own, how they can ensure a smooth transfer of ownership during purchase, and the various marketplaces where collectors can purchase NFT art.

Artists Jose Antonio Reyes and Ian Victoriano, among those who joined the well-attended webinars, expressed appreciation to the organizers for helping them gain a better understanding of NFTs and blockchain in general, and more importantly, for enabling them to better protect their ownership of their art while expanding their horizons when it comes to sharing them.

“It was very helpful for me as an artist. Learning about an avenue where I can focus on myself as an artist, while being exposed to a global market and seamless royalties is very meaningful. It’s the future, and I’m grateful we’re being taught how to adapt,” Reyes said.

“The talks helped simplify NFT concepts for me. Made me want to explore the possibility of using NFTs to help advance artists’ rights,” Victoriano said.

While still considered highly volatile, the NFT art market has proven to be a very lucrative space, with some artworks selling for thousands and even millions of dollars. In the Hiscox Online Art Trade Report which was released in October last year, it was revealed that NFT art sales in 2021 for the said month reached $3.5 billion in value.

NFTs have forever changed the game for artists and collectors, and many now see them as a staple in digital art moving forward. Being the first Bank in the country to fully embrace NFTs, UnionBank believes that there are more potential use cases for them that are yet to be discovered, which is why the Bank sees the value of knowledge sharing to assist more Filipinos understand the said technology better.

Through forums like this, UnionBank and CANVAS.PH wish that more stakeholders will be encouraged to join similar discussions to educate more people about NFTs and take advantage of the opportunities available in this growing market. UnionBank also hopes to have more banks’ participation in the space to help facilitate smoother transactions, given the important role of cryptocurrency in the sale of NFT art.

“We’re really happy to do this as this reinforces the Bank’s ‘Tech-Up Pilipinas’ advocacy,” said Casas. “We, at the Blockchain Center of Excellence, want to share our knowledge of blockchain technology, as the team is very much open to imparting what we know and also open to improving that learning by involving other industries in this discussion.”

The webinar is just one of UnionBank and CANVAS.PH’s initiatives to help artists and collectors navigate the emerging NFT art space, while also supporting CANVAS.PH’s advocacy for children’s literacy, exploring national identity, and deepening public appreciation for Philippine art, culture, and the environment.

Even if you’ve been selling since you graduated from college, you’ll always find something new to learn. It’s possible that you’ll need to learn new sales methods, a new product to market, or how to improve your sales presentation.

With this in mind, Gruenheim Philippines held a training conference for its sales representatives with the goal of not only improving their sales talents but also their leadership abilities. The goal was also to ensure that the team will be able to successfully express Gruenheim’s product-related philosophies.

Gruenheim GmbH & Co. KG was founded in 2014 and is based in Stuttgart, Germany and is a subsidiary of Luckner & Lahusen Group GmbH & Co. KG. It is a young and fresh trademark of high-end ecological, innovative and premium home appliances. It stands for products that combine functional, timeless and puristic design with impressive technical innovations. Gruenheim products are sold worldwide exclusively by authorized Gruenheim wholesalers.

Titled “Breakthrough in 2022 — Culture. Nurture. Future: Doing Breakthrough Business the Gruenheim Way,” Andreas Luckner, CEO (Marketing and Sales), flew in all the way from Germany to share his learnings and to support the efforts of Mike and Andrea Gamez, President and Corporate Secretary of Gruenheim Philippines.

Facilitated by Al Ian Barcelona and Ruben Lanot, participants underwent high-impact learning sessions on personal mastery, sales leadership, NLP communication skills, effective habits of sales champions, business strategic planning and team building.

“After two challenging years of being unable to meet our goals, we felt that this would be a good time to undergo these learning sessions. It’s like refresher courses that will help you jumpstart your path to selling success,” Mr. Gamez said.

Gruenheim Philippines also donated the home appliances that their clients exchange in for Gruenheim machines to Caritas Manila. This is one of their small contributions to the community.

Call 0917 5984968 or email [email protected] for more information about the Gruenheim Vacuum Cleaner and other items.

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Gruenheim Philippines Inc. is a direct importer and distributor of GRUENHEIM HOME APPLIANCES from Germany, a line of high-end, ecological, innovative and premium home appliances. It is a direct sales marketing company aimed at promoting and distributing GRUENHEIM products in the Philippines.

SM Supermalls, through its corporate social responsibility arm SM Cares, is once again joining the world in observing Earth Hour, with this year’s theme “Shape Our Future,” focusing on how we can work together to halt and reverse climate change and nature loss by 2030 as part of the company’s sustainability efforts.

The World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) created the annual Earth Hour campaign in 2007 to encourage people to switch off non-essential lights as part of energy conservation efforts for the globe. Since its inception in the Philippines in 2008, SM has been a consistent supporter of the campaign, being one of the first in the commercial sector to do so.

This year, SM will continue to promote the campaign by being one of the official partners of WWF for the Earth Hour Virtual Run, to be held from March 26 to April 22. Aside from this, all SM malls will be joining the light switch-off on March 26 from 8:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

“SM is proud to have been supporting Earth Hour throughout the last 14 years. Every year, we partake in this very important movement because we want to inspire people to action and tell them that no matter how small their contribution is, it will go a long way if we work together,” said Engr. Liza Silerio, SM’s Vice President for Corporate Compliance and Head of Sustainability.

“Through Earth Hour, we want to engage over a billion people worldwide and engage decision-makers whether in business, institutions, and governments, to move the agenda of nature up the priority list in the and hopefully, we’ll be changing the ending for the positive – for both people and the planet,” said Atty. Angela Ibay, Climate and Energy Program Head of WWF-Philippines

Aside from joining the campaign every year, SM has been active in environmental protection in many ways. For instance, all SM malls are equipped with energy and water conservation facilities. The company also regularly joins tree planting activities, and has waste management initiatives such as Trash-to-Cash, e-waste and used acid lead batteries collection programs, and the plastic waste collection program with the Plastic Credit Exchange.

SM has also been investing more in renewable energy. Eight malls in the country and three in China are now equipped with solar panels, with more to follow in the coming months. SM also pledged to increase its use of renewable energy to 50 percent of its overall energy usage by year-end.

SM City Tuguegarao Downtown Solar Rooftop

SM’s other sustainability initiatives include the annual Green Film Festival, promoting environmental awareness among students and the youth through films; the AweSMSeas project, promoting awareness on the negative impact of plastic waste on seas and oceans; and the International Coastal Cleanup joined by thousands of volunteers every year, to name a few.

SM Cares is SM Prime Holdings’ corporate social responsibility arm, promoting activities that benefit communities and the environment. SM Cares’ advocacies include programs for women and breastfeeding moms, persons with disabilities, older citizens, children and youth, and the Bike-Friendly SM Program, in addition to environmental programs.

For additional information, go to www.smsupermalls.com/smcares.

BUx, the Philippines’ largest all-in-one payment solutions platform, is ramping up client acquisition efforts this year to help the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) meet its aim of shifting 50% of all transactions to digital channels by 2023.

BUx believes that as consumer behavior evolves and their demand for digital solutions grows, more micro, small, and medium companies (MSMEs) and major organizations will use digital payment solutions this year.

“We are intensifying our customer acquisition efforts to equip more businesses — from large corporations to micro entrepreneurs — with digital payment solutions that help streamline their businesses and enable them to provide better customer experience. We are committed to further reach more businesses, including marketplace aggregators, to support the BSP in attaining its goal of converting 50 percent of total transactions to digital channels by 2023,” UBx Managing Director for Commerce and Payments Jaime P. Garchitorena said.

Latest BSP data showed that the share of digital payments to the total volume of transactions in 2020 reached 20.1 percent from 14 percent in 2019, and a huge leap from only 1 percent in 2013.

Driving this growth is the 47.8-percent rise in payments to merchants, as well as peer-to-peer transactions, and government disbursements.

“With one in five Filipinos now transacting digitally, we are seeing a change in consumer behavior. Filipinos are now embracing digital payments and merchants are able to match  that demand by adopting digital payment solutions,” Garchitorena said.

The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital payments in 2020 due to the limited mobility brought about by the community quarantines.

BUx alone recorded a 33x surge in transaction volume in 2021, processing gross transaction value in the billions of pesos.

An end-to-end payment solutions platform, BUx allows merchants of all sizes to accept all forms of payment. It unifies payment channels from card payments, bank transfers, over-the-counter payments, to e-wallets into one solution.

BUx has the most extensive payments network in the Philippines with over 50,000 access points and over 30 payment partner channels, effectively covering all of the payment channels required by merchants.

BUx’s best-in-class dashboard not only allows customers to track paid and pending payments, download payment summaries, and receive real-time notifications of funds credited, but it also allows businesses to track paid and pending payments, download payment summaries, and receive real-time notifications of funds credited.

“We remain steadfast in pursuing digital innovation and expanding our suite of digital payment services to serve the evolving needs of both consumers and merchants. We believe that as the leading all-in-one payment solutions platform in the Philippines, our growth equates to helping the government achieve its goals under the National Retail Payment System Framework,” Garchitorena said.

Visit www.bux.ph for more information on Bux and about the company

About UBX

UBX is the financial technology venture studio and fund of UnionBank of the Philippines. UBX is predicated on a future where financial services are invisible: seamlessly embedded into the experiences and activities that truly matter to businesses and people. For partnerships, email us at [email protected].

Residents from Foreshore, Tondo Manila can now utilize a fully equipped Super Health Center from SM

When it comes to economic growth in the Philippines, the private sector plays a key role by creating more jobs and contributing to our gross domestic product (GDP). Furthermore, as more businesses implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts to address social and environmental concerns in the communities where they operate, it is seen as a driving factor for inclusive and sustainable growth in the country.

Business can thrive by assisting in the improvement of the people’s quality of life in these host communities. As a result, CSR has evolved into a critical pillar of successful business management over time. Henry “Tatang” Sy, Sr., SM’s visionary founder, put it best in his premise that social improvement and investment go hand in hand.

Staying true to its commitment, SMFI is one of the first responders after the onslaught of Typhoon Odette

The SM group has embraced the responsibility to contribute to nation building through its social good arm, the SM Foundation, Inc. (SMFI). For nearly four decades, we have focused our resources, time, and reach to ensure that we are able to create opportunities wherever SM is present through social good programs that are geared towards quality education, sustainable agriculture, healthcare, and disaster response.

SM Scholars General Assembly (File Photo)

Anchored on Tatang’s belief that education is the greatest equalizer, SMFI established the SM Scholarship Program in 1993 to provide the youth access to quality tertiary and vocational education. We believe that through our scholarship grants, SM will be able to contribute to eradicating the intergenerational poverty cycle by granting scholarships to economically challenged but deserving students. And to complement this and more importantly, to address the challenges being faced by our public school system, SMFI, together with social good partners such as SM Prime, we have provided school buildings equipped with key facilities and equipment to underserved communities.

SM KSK Urban Farmers from Pasay City

Another social good pillar of SMFI is sustainable agriculture that aims to address the dilemma of the aging farmer population in the country as well as the growing gap between supply and demand for local food sources. In 2007, the foundation launched the Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan (KSK) program to bring modern and sustainable farming skills and linkages in both rural and urban communities, empowering farmers to have food on their table and creating market linkage to provide them with economic opportunities.

Accessible healthcare and timely disaster response are also at the heart of the foundation’s advocacy. Through its Health and Wellness program, SMFI helps address the shortage of quality healthcare facilities in the country by constructing and upgrading health centers in host communities supplemented by medical mission activities nationwide. The Operation Tulong Express (OPTE), on the other hand, gives immediate assistance in the form of relief goods and medical services in collaboration with SM Supermalls and SM Markets to communities affected by calamities and disasters that frequently occur in the country.

SMFI donated PPEs and much-needed medical equipment to various hospitals nationwide to help fight the spread of COVID-19

During the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, SMFI was one of the first organizations to assume an active role in assisting in the pandemic response by expanding the reach and impact of the Health and Wellness program and utilizing its partnerships to extend a helping hand to frontliners and Filipinos nationwide, especially those in SM host communities.

Through these social good programs, we continuously aspire to be a development partner for our host communities and serve as model for other organizations in terms of bringing social development specially in areas where they operate.

Implementing CSR involves a dynamic learning process given that social and environmental good are moving targets – and these cannot be fully achieved through one-time activities and decisions. Instead, companies should view and approach CSR as a process of continuous improvement that involves being constantly alert to new issues and considerations, which can be achieved through consistent community consultation and engagement.

Aside from free medical consultations and medicines, SM also provides free diagnostics and laboratory services to stakeholders specially in grassroot communities

Contrary to popular belief, CSR is not limited to major organizations and multinational corporations; small and medium-sized businesses can also assist their communities in their own unique ways. In fact, because they are more thoroughly rooted in their communities, they are more likely to effectively facilitate local-level CSR activities. Source raw materials from community-based suppliers, match and encourage charitable activities by employees, and even become paperless in their regular corporate operations are examples of these.

CSR initiatives, regardless of size or scope, are essential to the communities they serve because they play a critical role in encouraging sustainable, just, and balanced development, as well as contributing to the resolution of social and environmental issues.

According to a ranking official of UBX, the Philippines’ leading open finance platform, open finance has the potential to accelerate the country’s financial inclusion goal by democratizing access to a spectrum of financial products and services, particularly for the unbanked and underbanked, as well as growing businesses.

Open finance facilitates access and interoperability across financial ecosystem members, allowing financial institutions to reach out to the unbanked and underbanked while also empowering them to customize solutions to match the needs of consumers and companies.

“Inclusion has always been a critical mission for us at UBX, and we believe that the accelerated adoption of the open finance framework will allow us and the industry to hasten our shared goal of including everyone in the financial system. Open finance will enable our partners to acquire customers at scale, develop solutions specific to the unbanked, underbanked, and growing businesses, and provide consumers with greater choice and control over their data,” UBX President John Januszczak said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Plilipinas (BSP) recently rolled out the Open Finance Framework, which allows “consent-driven data portability, interoperability, and collaborative partnerships among financial institutions and third-party providers (TPPs).”

Last month, the BSP also unveiled the refreshed 2022-2028 National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI), which aims to reduce disparities in financial inclusion; improving health and resilience; empowering consumers; and increasing access to finance of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) including startups and the agriculture sector.

“Since we were formed in 2018, we at UBX have been consistent with our drive to include everyone into the financial ecosystem. We have invested heavily in open finance technologies and tools that complement the BSP’s regulations and initiatives towards financial inclusion,” Januszczak said.

Through its banking-as-as-service venture i2i, UBX enables ordinary merchants to become banking agents, who can offer a range of banking solutions from performing know-your-customer (KYC) processes, disbursing funds, processing bills payments, accepting deposits, accepting and forwarding loan applications, to selling insurance, among many others.

A cloud-based platform, i2i is built on blockchain and open finance technologies, enabling fast, reliable, and secure financial transactions, including but not limited to wallet transfers, domestic transfers, bills payment, mobile scoring, mobile ATM, and offline and online loan processing, among others. To date, UBX has over 200,000 B2B customers on its open finance platform.

UBX’s open finance platform also gave birth to SeekCap, an online lending marketplace, that enables lenders to reach MSMEs and offer them with affordable loans to help them jump start or expand their businesses. Last year, SeekCap processed over P7 billion in loans from the more than 50,000 MSMEs registered on the platform.

To complement these ventures, UBX also developed BUx, an all-in-one payment solutions platform that allows merchants of all sizes to accept all forms of payment, unifying payment channels from card payments, bank transfers, over-the-counter payments, to e-wallets into one solution.

“As the leader in open finance and as a strong government ally, we vow to develop more products and services to help the country accelerate our shared goal of including the majority of Filipinos in the financial systems,” Januszczak said.

For more information about the company or learn more about UBX, please visit www.ubx.ph.

About UBX

UBX is the financial technology venture studio and fund of UnionBank of the Philippines. UBX is predicated on a future where financial services are invisible: seamlessly embedded into the experiences and activities that truly matter to businesses and people. For partnerships, email us at [email protected].

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBankRon )’s Batisan, CXG Physical Channels head, was one of the panelists at the recently wrapped AIBP Insights: The Digital Age in Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance Forum. The emergence of PhyGital, a combination of physical and digital, in financial institutions was one of the issues explored, as was how this is affecting how customers perceive the services they receive.

The UnionBank executive talked about The ARK, the Bank’s award-winning, fully digital and paperless banking branch. “We did an experiment in one of our UnionBank’s branches in 2017. We digitized the transactions, the product applications. We empowered our people—calling them our branch ambassadors. We trained them not just to process transactions, but to engage with clients, to guide the customers on how to download our app, how to use the self-service machines, as well as handle digital conversion and advisory services,” Batisan said.

From just one, now there are more than 150 The ARKs all over the Philippines. Within the last four years, the Bank also saw a significant increase in the usage of self-service machines for cash and check deposits, cash withdrawal and other basic transactions, and in downloads for the UnionBank Online app, growing from about 300,000 users in 2017, to about 4 million to date.

“With that in mind, I think the role of our branch personnel have changed from transactional, to advisory and even selling. Now, they have time to sell insurance products, credit and debit cards, and other Bank products. They have become our sales and digital conversion team,” Batisan said.

Aside from the transformation of UnionBank’s spaces and people to meet the ever-changing needs of customers, essentially future-proofing the Bank, the cost of operating a physical branch was reduced significantly, contributing greatly to its bottom line.

“In 2020, we took a look at our network and saw that there were branches that had limited transactions but it didn’t mean that they didn’t have customers anymore. So, we rationalized and closed more than 10 branches then. But in terms of customer acquisition, we’ve gained a lot of customers especially through our digital account opening. For instance, we’ve opened more than one million accounts in 2021.”

With the ongoing changes in consumer behavior as a result of the accelerated shift to digital, Batisan believes that financial solutions providers should keep up, introducing measures that will provide customers with a sense of familiarity as they explore new and emerging digital fronts like cryptocurrency and the metaverse.

“With all of these new things that are happening, we should constantly operate in the idea that the path should still be safe,” Batisan added. “We must evaluate the basic notion of marketing, in which we must follow whatever is relevant to the customer.”

Smile Train, the world’s premier cleft-focused organization, and GSK Consumer Healthcare partnered to sponsor the Association of Philippine Orthodontists’ three-day Comprehensive Cleft Care Webinar series (APO). The webinar series had 518 attendees from 26 different nations. The extremely educational online sessions covered all stages of cleft therapy for a kid born with a cleft, with a special emphasis on cleft orthodontics. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, pediatric dentists, orthodontists, prosthodontists, speech pathologists, and pediatricians made up the excellent panel of speakers, all of whom have extensive cleft and craniofacial experience. Many of the presenters work at Smile Train’s partner, the Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation of the Philippines, or have received training there.

Also joining the panel was Dr. Alvaro Figueroa, a member of Smile Train’s Global Medical Advisory Board. With more than forty years of experience in treating patients with complex dental problems and craniofacial anomalies, Dr. Figueroa shared his extensive knowledge on orthognathic surgery and treatment protocols for cleft and craniofacial patients.

“Individuals born with a cleft require various types of dental and orthodontic treatments throughout their lifetime,” said Kimmy Coseteng-Flaviano, Smile Train Vice President, South East Asia. “This webinar series is reflective of our continued commitment to empowering local medical professionals and enabling them to provide safe, quality and timely cleft care for cleft-affected individuals who depend on us.”

“GSK Consumer Healthcare is proud to partner with Smile Train to increase awareness about clefts. Together we are committed to helping more people born with clefts to gain access to quality healthcare and to advance cleft care across the world,” said Emerson Aguinaldo, General Manager, Southeast Asia and Taiwan, GSK Consumer Healthcare.  To date our partnership has delivered 13,500 life changing cleft surgeries, training for over 8,800 healthcare professionals, and supported 38,000 families.

In 2021, with the support of GSK Consumer Healthcare and Smile Train, the World Dental Federation (FDI) released Oral Health Guidelines for comprehensive cleft care.

“This webinar series enables orthodontists, and other cleft professionals, not only in the Philippines but in other countries to learn more about the specialized field of cleft orthodontics, and ensure they gain the necessary skills to support cleft-affected individuals,” shared Dr. Janet Pandan, President of the Association of Philippine Orthodontists. “We are proud to work with Smile Train and GSK Consumer Healthcare, and thankful for their continued support as we strengthen the knowledge and capacities not only of our member dentists but also share that knowledge with our fellow practitioners across the region.” 

Visit https://www.gsksmiles.com/en-us/ for more information on the GSK Consumer Healthcare Smile Train relationship. Visit smiletrain.ph, follow Smile Train Philippines on Instagram   @SmileTrainPh, and like us on Facebook at @SmileTrainPhilippines to discover more about Smile Train’s local activities in the Philippines. You can also contribute to the spread of smiles by donating to Smile Train at www.smiletrain.org.

About Smile Train

Smile Train empowers local medical professionals with training, funding, and resources to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care to children globally. We advance a sustainable solution and scalable global health model for cleft treatment, drastically improving children’s lives, including their ability to eat, breathe, speak, and ultimately thrive. To learn more about how Smile Train’s sustainable approach means donations have both an immediate and long-term impact, please visit smiletrain.org.

About GSK / GSK Consumer Healthcare

GSK is a science-led global healthcare company with a special purpose: to help people do more, feel better, live longer. We have three global businesses: pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines and consumer healthcare products.

Our world-leading Consumer Healthcare business combines science and consumer insights to create innovative everyday healthcare brands that consumers trust and experts recommend for oral health, pain relief, cold, flu and allergy, digestive health and vitamins, minerals and supplements. We own some of the world’s best loved healthcare brands including Sensodyne, Parodontax, Polident, Volatren, Panadol, and Centrum.

About APO

The Association of Philippine Orthodontists is a specialty organization founded on the ideals of promoting and setting a high standard of excellence in orthodontic treatment and education. The APO is committed to its role in the comprehensive management of cleft patients and has continuously provided support to the orthodontic needs of cleft patients with Noordhoff Craniofacial Philippines since 2005. Its partnership with Smile Train since 2019 strengthens and reinforces its contribution to the rehabilitation of the cleft patient in collaboration with other specialists.