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Martin del Rosario, Mystified top Pinoy winners at Asian TV Awards

FILIPINO actor Martin del Rosario and iflix original movie Mystified won Best Leading Male Performance (Digital Category) and Best Single Drama or Telemovie, respectively at the 24th Asian Television Awards held over Jan. 10 to 12 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila, Pasay City.

“I told myself to be nominated itself is already enough, to be recognized all over Asia… but the biggest blessing for me is the opportunity to represent my country, the Philippines,” Mr. Del Rosario, who won for his work in Born Beautiful, said during his acceptance speech.

Aside from those two top awards, the Philippines also took home Best Theme Song Award for Kris Lawrence and Krizza Neri’s “Alanganin” from the animated series Barangay 143. The song beat four other songs from the Philippines, including three other songs from the same show.

Barangay 143, touted as the first Filipino anime and created by Synergy 88 Entertainment Media Inc. and GMA Network Inc. also went home with the Best 2D Animated Program award beating out India’s Little Singham from Discovery Communications India.

“This is a great honor for us from Synergy 88 Entertainment Media Inc. It was a tough ride… this award is not just for us but to all the talented Filipino animators out there,” Jan Kristoffer Enriquez, programs manager at Synergy 88, said during his acceptance speech.

Other winners include Taiwanese actor William Hsieh (Best Actor in a Leading Role) for First Love, Thai actress Tisanart Sornsuek (Best Actress in a Leading Role) for True Life of a Drama Queen, Thai actor Attaphan Poonsawat (Best Actor in a Supporting Role) for The Gifted, and Thai actress Anyarin Terethanapat (Best Actress in a Supporting Role) for Loop of Vengeance.

Korean drama series Sky Castle went home with Best Drama Series.

ABS-CBN News Channel anchor Catherine Yap-Wang won her fourth Asian Television Awards trophy after being named as the Best News Presenter or Anchor for her work in Market Edge with Cathy Yang. Ms. Yap-Yang previously won Best TV Newscaster for three straight years (2001 to 2003).

Businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan was given a special award for his Outstanding Contribution to Asian Television. Mr. Pangilinan is the chairman of television network TV5.

“It’s a validation of a journey [which started] about a decade ago, many thought as foolish to embark. We invested as a third player in a two-network town at the crux of unpredictable times and rapid seismic changes in content creation, consumption, and human behavior,” Mr. Pangilinan said in a speech read by TV5 CEO Jane Basas, during the ceremony.

Below is the full list of winners at the Asian Television Awards:

• Cable/Satellite Network of the Year: Line Company Thailand

• Terrestrial Broadcaster of the Year: China Global Television

• Best Direction (Fiction): Jeevan Nathan (Avenue 14)

• Best Actor in a Leading Role: William Hsieh (First Love)

• Best Actress in a Leading Role: Tisanart Sornsuek (True Life of a Drama Queen)

• Best Host/Presenter — Digital: Panirin Tumwattana (Little Nirin)

• Best Entertainment Presenter/Host: Alana Nichols (Follow Alana)

• Best Adaption of an Existing Format: Masterchef Junior Thailand Season 1

• Best Reality Show: My Kitchen Rules Australia

• Best Original Digital Drama Series: The Deadline

• Best Digital Fiction Program/Series: Social Syndrome

• Best Leading Male Performance — Digital: Martin del Rosario (Born Beautiful)

• Best Leading Female Performance — Digital: Chanya McClory (The Deadline)

• Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Attaphan Poonsawat (The Gifted)

• Best Actress in Supporting Role: Anyarin Terethananpat (Loop of Vengeance)

• Best Single Drama or Telemovie: Mystified

• Best Drama Series: Skycastle

• Best Theme Song: “Alanganin” by Kris Lawrence and Krizza Neri (Barangay 143)

• Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asian Television Performing Arts: Anggun

• Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asian Television: Manny Pangilinan

TECHNICAL AND CREATIVE AWARDS:

• Best Documentary Program (one-off/special): Is Australia Sexist?

• Best Documentary Series: China From Above 2

• Best Natural History or Wildlife Program: Orang Utan Jungle School

• Best Single News Story/Report (10 mins or less): Giant Clams-Nature’s Climate Archive

• Best News Program: Sunaina’s Story

• Best News Presenter or Anchor: Cathy Yang, Market Edge with Cathy Yang

• Best Social Awareness Program: Planet Healers

• Best Current Affairs Presenter: Andini Effendi, Q&A Metro TV

• Best Current Affairs Program: Kerala Floods — The Human Story

• Best Comedy Program: The Family Law Season 3

• Best Lifestyle Program: The Spirit of Zen

• Best Infotainment Program: Mega Icons

• Best Entertainment Program (One off/Annual): 2018-2019 Jiangsu Satellite TV New Year’s Eve Concert

• Best General Entertainment Program: SASUKE Ninja Warrior 2018

• Best Original Digital Entertainment Program: Super Nova Games

• Best Children’s Program: Bodypedia Baby

• Best Preschool Program: Didi & Friends

• Best 2D Animated Program: Barangay 143

• Best 3D Animated Program: Treehouse Detectives

• Best Live Sports Coverage: Australian PGA Championships 2018

• Best Sports Program: Go Top Heroes

• Best Sports Presenter/Commentator: Michael O’Dwyer (Live@HWWC HSBC Singapore 2019)

• Best Talk Show: Koffee with Karan Season 6

• Best Game/Quiz Program: Boom! Vietnam

• Best Music Program: The Producer

• Best Music Video: “Sandcastles” by Olinda Cho

• Best Influencer Content/Series: Stupid Man Smartphone-Singapore

• Best Branded Content (>15 mins): Prison Rat

• Best Branded Content (<15 mins): Queensway: Home of Football

• Best Branded Marketing Content: Mitsubishi Adventure with National Geographic

• Best Digital Non-Fiction Program/Series: Painted Love: Our Story

• Best Scriptwriting for Web Series: The Deadline

• Best Cinematography: Kumar Subramanyam (Breaking Point — Haws)

• Best Original Screenplay: Ekacahai Uekrongtham (Bangkok Love Stories: Plead)

• Best Editing: Zhou Quan, Life Matters Season 2

• Best Direction (Non-Fiction): Prabhu Asgadnkar (Breaking Point — Haws)

— Zsarlene B. Chua

Firms eye customized banking services

LOCAL COMPANIES are looking to avail of customized banking services to improve the efficiency of their transactions, according to UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc.

John Cary L. Ong, UnionBank executive vice-president and head of Transaction Banking Center said the local landscape is “quite unique” compared to its counterparts in the region where payment systems are standard and efficient.

“For the Filipino corporates, there’s a lot of customization that’s required. So every corporate that you speak to, especially the large ones, they would have their unique requirements. They need someone who can sort of be flexible to everyone,” he said in an interview with BusinessWorld in December.

He cited Singapore’s General Interbank Recurring Order or GIRO which is an automated electronic payment system governing banks in the city-state.

In the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has kickstarted the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) back in 2015 in a bid to streamline financial transactions in a more systematic way and to gradually veer away from cash and cheques and towards electronic fund transfers (EFT). This is in line with the BSP’s target to have e-payments comprise 20% of total transactions in the country by 2020.

The PESONet which is part of the NRPS and is an EFT service which allows batch processing that enables fund transfers to be credited to the receiver by the end of the banking date.

In line with these efforts, UnionBank has launched The Portal which is a corporate banking platform that streamlines client transactions on a single platform.

Prior to The Portal, the lender had The Hub which Mr. Ong said was not a “one platform for all transactions” scheme as it has many modules and required separate logins.

“It (The Portal) was really a complete overhaul for us and primarily because what we wanted to do was consolidate all these different systems which the corporates have touch points with and put it all into one platform,” Mr. Ong said.

The Portal is set to cater to firms’ need for a customized corporate banking experience with all its features accessible both through the website and the app.

With corporate clients always on the go, Mr. Ong said the platform’s flexibility of access will be convenient for them.

“What we’ve done is anything you can do on the website, you can also do. You can initiate a transaction on the app, you can switch organizations, you can authorize payments,” he explained.

Mr. Ong said The Portal will also address one vital pain point in corporate banking which is setting up approval hierarchy, noting that they have customers that have very complex approval matrix data.

“So how we built the system is it can be very flexible and very easy to set up. So regardless of how complex the requirements are, we can cater to them,” he said.

He added that the bank has also consolidated approval and transaction schemes into one login for those that manage multiple entities.

So far, 5,000 customers or a sixth of the bank’s corporate clients have already migrated to The Portal, Mr. Ong said.

“But our target definitely by around end of next year, is to have half [of corporate customers] on The Portal, and once they are in, it’s easy for us to push for electronic payments and really encourage them to move away from cheques,” Mr. Ong, who is also the head of the PESONet Steering Committee, said.

The bank also launched its ARK For Business branch in Makati in December which is meant for business transactions. ARK Branches are equipped with IoT (Internet of Things) technologies to facilitate better customer-in-branch experience. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

PSE sets new trading price threshold to guard investors

THE Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) will be implementing a new dynamic threshold for securities next month after conducting its semi-annual review in July to December 2019.

In a Jan. 10 memorandum posted on its website, the local bourse operator announced changes in the dynamic threshold of listed securities. The changes are set to take effect by Feb. 3, Monday.

The PSE defines the dynamic threshold as the “maximum allowable price difference between an update in the Last Traded Price (LTP) of a given stock or group of stocks and its preceding LTP that is equal to a percentage set by the PSE.” It is a measure to protect investors from unusual fluctuations in share prices.

In accordance with the guidelines on revised trading rules that took effect in 2010, the PSE has set dynamic thresholds based on three security clusters: A, or for securities traded 20 times or less in the past six months; B, or those traded 500 times or less but greater than 20 times in the past six months; and C, or those traded more than 500 times in the past six months.

As set by the guidelines, the dynamic threshold for security cluster A is 20%, for security cluster B is 15% and for security cluster C is 10%.

The new memorandum of the PSE adjusted the number of securities classified in every cluster.

For group A, the list grew to 35 securities from 34 in the current matrix. This took into account the inclusion of shares of newly-listed firm Fruitas Holdings, Inc.; the class “B” series 2 preferred shares of Ayala Corp.; and the non-noting perpetual preferred shares series 4 of Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc.

Securities under group B also expanded, growing to 66 securities from 61 at present. Apart from the movement of some securities from one cluster to another, the list also added shares of Benguet Corp.

For group C, however, the list declined to 225 securities from 228 at the moment. This covers the inclusion of shares in newly listed firms Axelum Resources Corp. and AllHome Corp.; the removal of shares in Travellers International Hotel Group, Inc.; and the movement of some shares to other clusters.

The guidelines on the dynamic threshold for securities say new securities listed on the PSE are subject to the 20% dynamic threshold by default.

The review of dynamic thresholds happens every second trading week of January and July, but the guidelines allow the PSE to reclassify a security even before the six-month review period ends if it finds that the trading frequency of such security needs attention. — Denise A. Valdez

Speedy zombies inhabit Red’s latest horror outing

TOUTED AS the “first full-scale zombie film by a Filipino studio,” Mikhail Red’s Block Z promises action and gore and thrills as it hits cinemas on January 29.

“When I was doing Eerie, Star Cinema went up to me and asked if I can do a zombie movie for them because it’s been a while since the country had a film from the genre,” Mr. Red said during a press conference on Jan. 12 at the ABS-CBN offices in Quezon City.

The film’s premise revolves around several pre-med students who are trapped inside a campus where a patient exhibiting rabies-like symptoms attacks and infects people.

Both Mr. Red’s prior horror and thriller films — Eerie and Dead Kids — have stories revolving around students and their schools.

Making a zombie film is not a new experience for the director. “Back in high school, I used to make zombie movies with my classmates using ketchup as blood and a mini-dv recorder,” Mr. Red said in a release.

The film’s cast include Julia Barretto, Maris Racal, McCoy de Leon, Yves Flores, and Joshua Garcia alongside Ian Veneracion, Dimples Romana, and Ina Raymundo.

“We have fast zombies [in this film]… the running in this film is full-speed, so it adds excitement and thrills because you really need cardio, these are not slow zombies you can slam with a frying pan,” the director said.

He added that he was inspired by the 2007 horror film 28 Weeks Later by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (the sequel to Danny Boyle’s 2002 film, 28 Days Later), and anime series High School of the Dead which aired in 2010 and which was adapted from the manga of the same name by Daisuke Sato.

“Block Z is a horror film but it also has adventure-thriller elements… horror is a visual language and it’s not something that can be done through dialogue… it’s almost like a graphic novel [when sequencing shots],” he said.

Block Z screens in cinemas nationwide starting Jan. 29. — Z.B. Chua

As firms hold back, US consumers seen boosting big banks’ profits

NEW YORK — Consumer lending is expected to propel profits for big US banks when they unveil fourth-quarter results this week, though stress in corporate lending and uneven capital markets may cast a shadow over results.

Balances for individual borrowers keep reaching new records as the US job market has stayed robust, prompting people to spend, and as interest rates have declined, prompting them to borrow — especially on credit cards.

Overall, US consumer-loan balances at the 25 largest banks reached $1.19 trillion the last week of December, up 13% from a year earlier, according to Federal Reserve data. The biggest annual increase came from cards, where outstanding debt rose 16%.

The banks held another $1.46 trillion in residential mortgage loans.

That spells good news for quarterly profits at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup, Inc., which have been working to grow their card businesses in recent years. The Fed’s decision to lower rates in 2019 boosted mortgage activity, which will help major home lenders like Wells Fargo & Co. Those three banks are scheduled to report results on Tuesday.

“The consumer-lending business is going to be very profitable for the banks,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Gerard Cassidy said in an interview.

Americans borrowing to buy cars and pay for vacations has been a mainstay for industry profits recently. Consumer strength has helped offset weakness in trading, underwriting or business-loan demand at various points, with bank executives cheering it as a sign that the US economy is not on the brink of recession.

Analysts expect tepid business borrowing to have continued through the fourth quarter. Global trade disputes, political uncertainties and market fluctuations have left CEOs wary of seeking financing to buy competitors or invest in operations, they said.

However, those issues could take a back seat to the thriving US consumer.

As Americans’ loan balances have climbed, their incomes have grown even faster. That debt is now about equal to disposable personal income after climbing to as much as one-third higher in 2007.

Analysts say they are also encouraged that banks appear to be lending more responsibly to consumers, partly due to new regulations. Consumer delinquency rates are low at 2.8%, compared with an average of 4.3% since 2003, according to Fed data. In the recession, the rate reached 8.2%.

However, analysts cautioned that credit mistakes often occur in the best of times and that it is hard to see them with the economy growing for the 11th straight year.

Higher real-estate values have allowed property owners to raise cash by selling or refinancing. As competition has heated up in cards, some borrowers have been transferring zero-interest balances from one bank to another for a small fee, without paying off the debt.

And although unemployment is at a 50-year low and wages are higher, there are still lots of consumers living paycheck-to-paycheck.

A Fed survey last year found 39% of Americans would have a hard time handling an unexpected $400 expense. People with credit cards generally are not at such risk, but still about 16% said they would put the expense on a card.

Fred Cannon, research director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, said a rise in unemployment in the next recession would expose bad loans. “There certainly could be some problems,” he said. — Reuters

China backs drive vs gambling, says Pagcor

THE Philippines and China are working together to combat Chinese nationals involved in illegal offshore gaming operations in the country, the head of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) said, after President Rodrigo R. Duterte gave his assurance that Beijing is not meddling in local law enforcement.

In a mobile message sent to BusinessWorld, Pagcor Chairman Andrea D. Domingo said the two countries “respect each other’s sovereignty and laws” and were teaming up in the drive against Chinese-led Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).

“[Pagcor] and the Chinese Police assigned at their embassy here are in close coordination in the fight against illegal gambling/POGO operations,” she said.

“We agreed in a meeting that the fight we must wage is against illegal gambling or illegal POGO operations and we have cooperated to make this fight successful,” she added.

Pagcor has the mandate to regulate the operations of POGOs.

On Monday, Mr. Duterte said in a television interview that Chinese officials would not interfere in his administration’s strict laws governing POGOs amid the influx of Chinese working in the offshore gambling industry.

He added that China had been urging the Philippines to arrest or deport Chinese nationals if necessary.

All forms of gambling are prohibited in China, which has called on Southeast Asian countries to address the issue of online gambling involving mainland Chinese, which is believed to be the reason why hundreds of millions of yuan are illegally released from its economy.

The Philippines has lead an aggressive crackdown against illegal POGOs, many of which were found to have illegally recruited Chinese workers.

Based on data of the Bureau of Immigration, majority of the 2,000 illegal aliens arrested and deported in 2019 were Chinese who are involved in unlicensed gaming operations. — Gillian M. Cortez

Why one Friends fan in the US now has 236 episodes recorded on her DVR

WHEN Friends vanished from Netflix in the US on Jan. 1, Amy Smeltzer was ready. She watches the old sitcom almost every day and just couldn’t wait until May for it to resurface on a new streaming service, HBO Max.

So a month ago, her husband began recording the episodes on cable TV. All 236 of them.

“It’s still funny to me, even as many times as I’ve seen it,” said Smeltzer, 33, who lives outside Atlanta. With the entire library on her DVR, “the only annoying part is the commercials.”

The show about six friends in Manhattan, which first aired in 1994, was one of the most popular programs on Netflix. Its departure has sent subscribers scrambling for other ways to watch. Google searches for “How to watch Friends” have spiked in the new year. Media outlets have published articles on where to find Friends. Many fans have turned to old-school technology, like cable or DVDs.

The plight of disgruntled Friends fans reflects the mixed blessings of the streaming era. It’s a paradise for TV junkies, with classic shows and hundreds of new series available at the click of a button. But with new streaming services coming online this year — leading to bidding wars for popular sitcoms — consumers will have to look harder to find their favorite programs and may be forced to buy additional subscriptions.

The cable networks TBS and Nick at Nite still air Friends. TBS saw a sevenfold increase in online viewing of the show last week. Nick at Nite saw Friends viewership rise 33% last week compared with the previous four weeks.

Friends is still streaming on Netflix outside the US, prompting international viewers to gloat on social media. The show itself is owned by Warner Bros., a division of AT&T Inc., which also owns TBS and the upcoming HBO Max.

“Enjoying every second in Brazil bc Friends is still on Netflix here,” one Twitter user said this week. “I don’t know what I’ll do when I go back to the US and have to figure out another way to watch it.”

Both TBS and Nick at Nite, owned by ViacomCBS Inc., will still have Friends after it begins streaming on HBO Max, which is paying $425 million over five years to Warner Bros. for the exclusive streaming rights. On the other hand, a five-month streaming blackout could boost interest in HBO Max among Friends fans who don’t get cable.

“Having exclusive content is very important,” said Amanda Lotz, a professor of media studies at Australia’s Queensland University of Technology. “But Friends has been around 25 years and is readily available. That’s what makes this case so unusual.”

The departure of Friends from Netflix shows how the balkanized world of streaming is sowing confusion among consumers. For decades, programs aired on broadcast channels and then moved to cable networks in syndication. Consumers never had to search beyond the channel guide.

Now, TV fans need to figure out which streaming services carry their favorite shows as rights are bought and sold, not to mention juggle multiple subscriptions. And because they expect to have their entertainment available at all times, the departure of programs on Netflix “feel like ruptures,” Lotz said.

Smeltzer said she was prepared to subscribe to NBCUniveral’s upcoming streaming service, Peacock, because she assumed Friends, which originally aired on NBC, would be there.

But after learning it won’t be, Smeltzer said she will probably subscribe to HBO Max. Her DVR is almost full from recording every episode.

“The subscriptions are getting out of control, but Friends is one of my favorite shows and I watch it every day so I’ll pay for it,” she said. — Bloomberg

Law firm applying for a special audit of Wirecard

SCHIRP SAID it is applying for a special audit of Wirecard amid fraud allegations.

FRANKFURT — Law firm Schirp said on Monday it was applying for a special audit of German payments company Wirecard, which is facing allegations of fraud and false accounting, on behalf of its shareholders.

Wirecard was hit a year ago by allegations in the Financial Times that its Singapore office made fake book-keeping entries to “pad” its revenues. In-house auditor EY investigated those claims and gave Wirecard management a clean bill of health. The company denied the allegations and sued the FT, which stands by its reporting.

Thomas Eichelmann, the board member overseeing an outside audit of Wirecard, has been elected as chairman after Wulf Matthias, 75, resigned for personal reasons, Wirecard said in statement on Friday. — Reuters

Ayala group in relief efforts after Taal eruption

THE Ayala group has mobilized its units to assist local governments in relief operations for the affected communities by the Taal volcano eruption.

In a statement Monday, the conglomerate said its water arm Manila Water Co., Inc. has ordered its operating units in Laguna and Batangas to work with the Batangas Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office to deliver 30 water tankers in evacuation centers. This is on top of the 2,000 five-gallon bottled water that MWC is sending initially to the area.

Manila Water affiliate Laguna Water through wholly owned subsidiary Manila Water Philippine Ventures has also ordered its employees to evacuate its Silang office on Sunday night.

The property arm of the Ayala group, listed Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI), likewise joined in the efforts by waiving overnight parking fees and offering free Wi-Fi connection in Ayala Malls in Metro Manila and Calabarzon yesterday.

In the more closely affected Ayala Malls Solenad and Ayala Malls Nuvali in Tagaytay, ALI has offered its cinema building ground floor to customers that need a place to stay.

Ayala-led telecommunications firm Globe Telecom, Inc. also helped in the group-wide efforts by running its network at full capacity in all affected areas by the calamity.

Healthcare unit Ayala Healthcare Holdings, Inc. has also been told to stay alert to supply medicine, medical supplies, first aid and medical consultation in case the situation worsens.

“More relief efforts are underway as the Ayala group continues to work with relevant LGUs to meet the immediate needs of the affected communities,” the company said in the statement.

Taal Volcano, the Philippines’ second most active volcano located south of Metro Manila in Batangas, erupted Sunday afternoon and has remained active through Monday.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has ordered total evacuation of residents in high-risk areas within a 14-kilometer radius from the volcano’s main crater. — Denise A. Valdez

ICTSI’s Colombia port takes in largest capacity vessel

INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) said Sociedad Puerto Industrial Aguadulce S.A. (SPIA), its joint venture container terminal project with PSA International Pte Ltd. (PSA) in Buenaventura, Colombia, has received the “largest vessel ever to call Colombia” this month.

“Coming from Asia, the large-scale vessel, APL Esplanade, recently arrived at Puerto Aguadulce with a capacity of 13,892 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs),” ICTSI said in a statement on Monday.

It added that the vessel would continue to other ports in South America.

“The shipping companies continue to build larger and larger capacity vessels. For Puerto Aguadulce, receiving this type of vessel is an honor and a great responsibility. We work continuously under our vision of being a strategic ally of the Colombian economy. At the end of last year, we received what is now, after APL Esplanade, the second largest capacity container vessel that has docked in the country,” Miguel A. Abisambra, Puerto Aguadulce general manager, was quoted as saying.

He said these calls affirm that the terminal, which began operations in November 2016, has “global service standards, technology, infrastructure and security.”

ICTSI had posted a 7% increase in its net income attributable to equity holders in the July-September period last year.

The Razon-led company attributed the profit growth to strong operating income contribution from the terminals in Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Mexico, and Manila and Subic in the Philippines; new contracts with shipping lines and services at Victoria International Container Terminal in Melbourne, Australia; continuing ramp-up at the new terminals in Papua New Guinea; and a decrease in equity in net loss at Sociedad Puerto Industrial Aguadulce.

Revenue from port operations went up by 3% to $355.6 million during the third quarter, and by 10% to $1.1 billion during the January-September period.

The company has said it spent $177.7 million out of the $380-million capital expenditure budget as of end-September. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Korean entertainers coming to PHL in February

KOREAN actor Yeo Jin Goo, DJ HYO, and singer/actor Ong Seong Wu will all be coming to the Philippines in February.

Yeo Jin Goo — fresh from the success of his latest TV series, Hotel del Luna, which is currently airing on Abs-Cbn and is one of the highest rated Korean drama in cable TV history — will be coming to Manila for the first time and will be staging his first fan meeting tour, Memory Line. This will be held on Feb. 1 at the New Frontier Theater in Cubao, Quezon City.

Yeo started as a child actor in 2006 before played the title role in the 2013 movie Hwaji: The Monster Boy and his first leading role in a TV drama on Orange Marmalade in 2015. He went on to star in TV dramas Circle and Reunited Worlds, and the film Warriors of the Dawn before starring in three TV dramas in 2019 — The Crowned Clown, My Absolute Boyfriend, and Hotel del Luna.

Tickets to Yeo Jin Goo’s Memory Line — First Fan Meeting in Manila 2020 are on sale via TicketNet.com.ph, TicketNet outlets or by call 8911-5555 for more information.

DJ HYO IN MANILA
Hyoyeon of the Korean girl group Girls Generation struck out on her own and made a name for herself by becoming a DJ.

Now called DJ HYO, her set includes not only her solo songs but also the hit songs of Girls Generation. She will be presenting her exclusive DJ set at House Manila, Resorts World Manila on Feb. 8 10 p.m.

The P5,000 tickets are available at Ticket2Me.

For more details visit the social media accounts of FanLive, Istudyo ni Pipay, and House Manila.

ONG SEONG WU FAN MEET
After taking home the Best New Actor and Hallyu Star Award at the 12th Korea Drama Awards and the AAA Rookie Actor Award at the Asian Artist Award 2019, and finishing his recent drama At Eighteen, Ong Seong Wu returns to the music scene with his newest single “We Belong.”

Ong Seong Wu will hold his Asia Fanmeeting <“WE BELONG”> in Manila on Feb. 25 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. Tickets are available at all TicketNet outlets and online (https://ticketnet.com.ph/events/detail/Ong-Seong-Wu-Asia-FanMeeting-In-Manila).

Agency banking transactions rose in 2019

THE COUNTRY’S digital agency banking in 2019 took a leap as transactions ballooned by more than fivefold, fueled by withdrawal transactions of conditional cash transfer beneficiaries.

Data from the Digital Enterprise and Innovation Group of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) showed that transaction count surged by 564% year on year to 1.2 million in 2019.

The total amount of money which went through the system skyrocketed by 521% year on year to P3.3 billion in 2019.

“The strategy behind the exponential growth was based on the recalibration of the business model including the data-driven device distribution in areas with propensity for high transaction volume,” RCBC Executive Vice- President and Chief Innovation Officer Angelito “Lito” M. Villanueva said in a text message to BusinessWorld on Monday.

Among transactions, withdrawals saw the largest growth surge of 610%, followed by fund transfers (226%), cash-in (221%), and bills payment (93%).

More than half (51%) of the withdrawal transactions are made by conditional cash transfer (CCT) beneficiaries. With this, a total of 284,000 CCT beneficiaries have accessed digital agency banking.

Data also showed that the areas with the highest transaction volumes are in Bataan, Aklan, Quezon City, Davao City, and Antique.

Land Bank of the Philippines automated teller machine (ATM) cards were the most frequently used for transactions, the data showed. ATM card users from Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., BDO Unibank, Inc., RCBC, and the Development Bank of the Philippines also rounded up the top five users of digital agency banking.

Despite the 94% successful transaction rate, RCBC noted that 6% of transactions were declined due to insufficient balances.

Mr. Villanueva, who is also the founding chairperson of the Fintech Alliance Philippines, said they are targeting to keep the fivefold growth or over 500% expansion rate of digital agency banking in 2020.

“To further sustain its growth is the onboarding of over 100 rural banks, cooperatives, MFIs (microfinance institutions), pawnshops, and sari-sari stores,” he said.

It was in 2017 when the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas rolled out its guidelines for lenders in conducting agency banking, which taps outlets, groups, or individuals with technology to perform basic banking services including account openings, cash deposits, withdrawals, and even bills payment in far-flung areas where bank branches may be a rarity or are absent. — L.W.T. Noble

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