BPI Launches New App for a Future-Ready Banking Experience

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) launched a totally new and future-ready mobile app with innovative features and services that go beyond convenient transactions and help more Filipinos work their way towards financial well-being. This reinforces the bank’s solid footing as a digital banking leader in the country.

As part of BPI’s aggressive digital transformation journey, BPI President and CEO Jose Teodoro "TG" Limcaoco said, “We’re proud of the new BPI app, and we know there’s room to continue improving. While we look at the best technology and digital solutions to ensure that we deliver excellent service, we anchor the designed experiences to what our customers need.” 

According to Maria Cristina “Ginbee” Go, BPI Head of Consumer Banking, the new BPI app is key to the bank’s “phygital” approach to make the bank accessible to more Filipinos through physical branches, and digital channels and platforms. “Our customers have the option to bank with the app in tandem with BPI branches and ATMs—giving them a choice of their preferred channel with integrated services like online booking of branch visits or cashless withdrawal. 

Getting into the core features of the new app, BPI Consumer Bank Marketing, Platforms, and Digital Activation Head Mariana Zobel de Ayala emphasized that the new app goes beyond everyday transactions and helps build towards Filipinos’ financial independence. 

“This boasts of a new design and experience, and we look forward to exciting new features that you won't find in the older BPI Mobile app like mobile check deposit, AI-powered insights on your savings and spending, and more. These are core retail products designed not just to be convenient and sustainable but also customer-centric even in the long-term,” Zobel de Ayala said.  

The new BPI app highlights the following features:  

Improved User Experience

Users can get things done in fewer taps, with top transactions that are easier to access upon login and faster to finish. Help links are now found within transaction processes for easier access to guides and FAQs.

Online Account Opening

New clients can open a BPI #SaveUp account on the app within five minutes with just one ID. They can instantly start banking via the app.

Personal Finance Management (Coming in May)

BPI will be the first bank app to feature AI-powered tracking and insights. The app will offer financial advice, payment reminders, and actionable tips to help millions of Filipinos improve their financial wellness.

Other exciting features that are coming soon are mobile check deposit, real-time bill payment, cash withdrawal via QR, save favorite transactions, and more product applications. 

BPI Consumer Platforms Head Fitzgerald Chee pointed out that BPI Mobile app users do not have to delete their old app yet. “You can continue to log in the older BPI Mobile app with your current username and password. Users that want to start enjoying the new BPI app can find easy-to-follow guides on our Facebook and YouTube channels,” he said.

He also explained that QR codes generated on the older BPI Mobile app are still going to work on the new BPI app. “You can also view all your personalized settings, previous transactions, and statements right away on the new BPI app,” he noted, clarifying, “For your security, the Mobile Key works within the new BPI app or the older BPI Mobile app. Users can choose which app version to activate their Mobile Key.”

All these form part of the bank’s goal to further enable high-quality customer experiences in line with one of its core values to be a customer-centric organization. “Customers are looking for banks that can serve them well. We assure our clients that BPI will continue to constantly change with the times to meet their evolving needs,” Limcaoco said. 

The BPI App is now available for download on the App Store and on Google Play <link to: https://bpi.onelink.me/Lrdg/appstore>.

CoinSwap Space: A Promising Startup That Can Take On Any DEX In The Future

As a startup project, CoinSwap Space created a great impact among many people, especially those in the DeFi and crypto space.

During the launch, last April 30, CoinSwap Space made a lot of early investors. Taking their chances to become one of the early adopters of the $CSS token.

CoinSwap Space only released a total initial supply of 400,000 $CSS tokens, which will be fully utilized for initial liquidity.

But as a startup, it is unavoidable for some issues to occur during the launch, and most of them are technical issues like APR, Friend Referral Count, wallet connectivity and others, that were experienced by the early adopters or buyers.

Due to that incident, some investors and speculators became impatient and raised their complaints to the business, to which the community managers and admins addressed accordingly, telling them that this will all be resolved very soon.

And just recently, the APR issue and the referral counter have been addressed and resolved within a matter of hours.

Now, the project is aiming to work on its roadmap which deals with Data Protocols like Graph Integration, Top Indexing Protocol, and SDK development kit.

In conclusion, the overall launch was a success, and as a startup project that is being lined up to the likes of Uniswap and or Pancakeswap, CoinSwap Space may have a long way to go. But it is not impossible to reach its goal, especially that they are unique as a platform. Being an autonomous AMM, an incentivized DeFi Protocol and using BSC (Binance Smart Chain) Technology.

Sterling Bank Accelerates Adoption of Digital Payments through QR Code

Sterling Bank of Asia (SBA) continues to strengthen its digitization efforts by improving its online banking platform with the implementation of the Sterling Bank QR Pay. Among the BSP-supervised financial institutions, SBA is one of the first thrift banks that has adopted the National Quick Response Code Standard (QRPh).

“The advantage of using QR code is that it facilitates instant payment or fund transfer without the need to manually key in the account details,” said Mr. Cecilio San Pedro, SBA's President and CEO. This lessens the errors and makes fund transfers and payments fast, safe, and convenient.
QRPh makes QR codes of different banks and e-wallets interoperable. Through Sterling Bank’s mobile app, the QR Pay is now accessible to clients -- offering a convenient alternative to sending funds to, or receiving funds from, other QRPh-compliant local banks and e-wallets.

"Now that our customers' financial needs are evolving and transactions are shifting more in favor of e-payments, we want to ensure that our digital platform addresses their banking requirements," added San Pedro. The bank’s online banking facility also allows fund transfers via Instapay and Pesonet. Fees for these transactions, including QR Pay, will remain free until December 31, 2020.
In November 2019, BSP and the payment industry participants launched the National Quick Response (QR) Code Standard. With the growing acceptance and use of contactless payments, it is also set to introduce the person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions via QRPh soon to complement the person-to-person (P2P) transactions.

For more information and updates about Sterling Bank of Asia, visit www.sterlingbankasia.com and download the Sterling Bank Online App to experience secure and convenient banking.