BDO Unibank Inc. and Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) are the top banking and financial services brand in the Philippines, according to a study conducted by a media intelligence and insights firm.
Isentia based its findings on the media analytics data from mainstream media coverage and social conversations in the last quarter of 2020. It studied several markets in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.
It revealed that BDO led the media coverage in the same period, with over 2,000 articles published about the bank in the country. JP Morgan Chase and Maybank took the lead in Singapore and Malaysia, respectively. Vietcombank and AXA had the most media coverage in both Indonesia and Thailand.
BPI, on the other hand, was the most mentioned bank in the Philippines’ social media world, with 15,905 buzzes. In Singapore and Malaysia, Barclays and Malaysia dominated the social media conversations, respectively. In addition, Airpay, AXA, and SCB Bank garnered the most online mentions in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, respectively.
“In Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, the most interesting factors often times discussed in digital journalism and social media conversations is what is it in these markets that is driving change, and how do financial institutions, banks, insurance companies and e-commerce in general move forward to succeed in a post-pandemic period,” said Lady Ochel Espinosa, the firm’s regional insights manager for emerging markets.
Isentia also highlighted the efforts of the local banking industry to promote sustainable finance, citing the awards received by some of the Philippine financial institutions in the last year in relation to this.
LandBank, DBP
FOR example, the media analytics agency noted that the Land Bank of the Philippines received two awards for outstanding development projects on climate financing and digital account opening at the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific Development Awards 2020.
The Development Bank of the Philippines, meanwhile, was recognized during the Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance Awards and Certification Ceremony held in Germany for extending funding to a solar-powered housing community project.
Meanwhile, Isentia also observed the acceleration of contactless transactions across the banks in the markets it surveyed. These financial institutions, the firm said, “responded to the needs by working closely with their partners to provide digital and cashless payments.”
It cited JazzyPay in the Philippines, which teamed up with the Ayala-led bank to allow secure online payments to essential businesses.
Since its 2018 launch, JazzyPay now has hundreds of partner merchants across the country, including Manila Adventist College, Adventist Medical Center Manila, Adventist Hospital Santiago City and the Dr. Arturo P. Pingoy Medical Center.
It is a registered Operator of Payments System regulated by the Central Bank. The startup recently acquired the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Level 1 Certificate.