THE Philippine National Bank (PNB) has tied up with CIS Bayad Center Inc. (Bayad Center) to offer an economical payment solution to over 100,000 subscribers of Palawan Electric Cooperative (Paleco).
Being an island province popular among tourists as an untouched paradise, Palawan still lacks channels for convenient services to the locals.
Because some parts of the province remain rural and have rugged terrain, much of the area continues to be underdeveloped, especially in terms of transportation and utilities.
Many residents of the island have to travel far distances either by boat or by bus to Puerto Princesa City to buy goods, avail themselves of basic services and pay for their monthly utilities, such as water and electricity.
But not until the three partner-firms executed a tripartite agreement to introduce Bayad Connect to allow Palaweños to settle their monthly dues on electricity via their mobile or smartphones.
More than that, this pioneering mobile retailer application of Bayad Center also allows small business owners of sari-sari stores, convenience stores, bakeries and other neighborhood shops to accept e-loading services and other transactions.
This makes Bayad Connect an additional revenue generator for micro-businesses, as well as a convenient and economical option for locals in hard-to-reach places to pay their bills, e-load and do other financial deals.
The app will soon become available to other provinces, especially those in far-flung areas, to provide convenience to people and open business opportunities to smallscale retailers and entrepreneurs.
Established on July 22, 1916, PNB is the first universal bank in the country. Through its subsidiaries, it provides commercial bank services, with products including deposit-taking, lending, bill discounting, foreign exchange dealing, investment banking and fund transfer.
This bank led by business tycoon Lucio Tan also offers merchant banking, remittance servicing, nonlife insurance, leasing, stock brokerage, foreign-exchange trading and related services.
As of end-September 2018, PNB’s consolidated resources aggregated P910.7 billion, up nine percent compared to December 2017 balances, while total equity increased by P6.5 billion to P126.2 billion from 2017 year-end levels.
Bayad Center was founded in 2006, offering over-the-counter multiple collection services, such as remittance payout, bills payment, and business center services.
It provides outsourced payment collection services for organizations in utilities, government service, telecommunications, cable TV, Internet, insurance and pre-need, healthcare, transportation, electronic wallet, credit card, real estate, financial services, columbary, memorial park, charities, and arts and entertainment sectors.
Paleco has the second largest franchise area in the country. It provides power to 18 municipalities and Puerto Princesa City, serving more than 100,000 consumers.