The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) brought home three banking awards including the Best Retail Bank, at the prestigious Retail Banker International Trailblazer Awards held last October 7, 2021.
The Retail Banker International (RBI) Trailblazer also recognized RCBC as the Best in Mass Affluent Banking and Best Loyalty/Rewards Strategy for RCBC Bankard Services Corporation, the bank’s credit card unit.
Organized in collaboration with Arena International, the United Kingdom, Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), Dubai, and GlobalData (Singapore), the 12th annual edition of RBI Asia Trailblazers Awards honors retail banks and leaders across the world with leading innovations that greatly helped their customers in these unprecedented times.
“For more than 60 years now, RCBC has earned a solid reputation, not just for being one of the largest and most enduring universal banks in the Philippines, but for creativity and innovation,” said RCBC Retail Banking Group Head Richard C. Lim.
Lim stated that RCBC was already raising the bar, unleashing its arsenal of digital solutions to attain greater agility and scalability prior to the pandemic. A digital committee was created to provide essential services to customers during the lockdown, assist in distributing government subsidies, and cater to the unbanked.
“RCBC also quickly responded to the changing client needs during the pandemic by swiftly deploying enhanced digital services and capabilities. Customized solutions were developed understanding the clients are at different stages of adopting to digital.The Retail Banking Group (RBG) sales and marketing support units were reorganized to assist in the traditional and digital banking needs of customers,” Lim added.
Meanwhile, the Yuchengco-led universal bank was recognized for its Hexagon Club product, where members are provided with premium banking service and special perks.
Hexagon Club significantly contributed to RCBC’s business by increasing its deposit level by P40.7 billion in 2020; growing its total deposit base to P165 billion, or 48 percent of the total retail business deposit; generating P113 billion in total current account/savings account (CASA), representing 35 percent of the Bank’s total retail business CASA; among others.
RCBC Bankard was given the Best Loyalty/Rewards Strategy award as it was able to empower its cardholders to help fellow Filipinos whose livelihoods were affected by the pandemic restrictions and support medical frontliners.
The credit card unit launched two rewards redemption campaigns that rallied its cardholders to use their rewards points to help the less fortunate and the frontliners.
RCBC Bankard President and CEO Arniel Vincent B. Ong relayed, “We wanted to empower our cardholders to lend a hand without causing any financial burden to them. As such, instead of requesting for donations to be charged to their cards, we monetized the value of their rewards points so that they can use these to help ease the burden caused by Covid-19.”
The “Donate Your Rewards Points for Covid-19 Relief” campaign proved to be successful, raising a total of 13.51 million Reward Points, valued at P3.38 million. This helped Philippine Red Cross build two molecular laboratories in Metro Manila and 41 medical tents, as well as provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), face masks, hygiene kits, and hot meals to frontliners and patients.
This campaign likewise helped SOS Children’s Villages Philippines purchase and deliver thousands of food, vitamins, and hygiene kits to the abandoned and neglected children in SOS Children’s Villages in Calbayog, Iloilo, and Tacloban.
Gawad Kalinga also benefited from the campaign and was able to provide hope gift packs to 4,060 families from the most vulnerable communities in Metro Manila and Mindanao.
As for the Alfonso Yuchengco (AY) Foundation, it used the donation it received from the campaign to provide hospital beds to the Butuan Medical Center for their isolation/quarantine facility and N95 masks to Carmona Hospital and Medical Center in Cavite.
Meanwhile, the “Donate Your Rewards Points for School Tablets” garnered a total of 5.03 million reward points equivalent to P1.26 million. This helped RCBC Bankard purchased as many as 280 tablets, higher than the firm’s target of 200 tablets.