GCash Insider Sessions Showcase Partner Solutions

It was a nice evening of letting GCash users know that there's more to the app than meets the eye during the GCash Insider sessions at XYLO in BGC. They called it Passion Forward, where harnessing consumer behavior for business success is being encouraged. GCash has really gone beyond just finance (and your ability to conveniently transfer funds) and show you how your passions can also be used to increase profit from your businesses, level up what you've been doing by utilizing their various solutions designed specifically for their partners no matte how big you are.

 

One of their guests Ms. Weng Rivera the Head of Travel for AirAsia Super App says "We are most decorated low cost carrier and in 2019 a lot of you have been traveling before the pandemic struck. It put us, our ground crew, and air personnel in a limbo. It was one opportunity to put one of our core values in front, we brought fresh produce to different places across the region helping out and opening doors in the country. Employees were given funds so they could put up their businesses, we didn't want to waste a crisis. A lot of things were uncertain, so we converted our usual airline to a more travel inclined super app, and people were ready for it. Hence, we became a digital airline quite fast. Now it's got flight, hotels, shops, transportation, ride, super plus, and rewards system in place. We now can connect you via land or sea, have more flights and redeem points every time you travel. Go download the app today and enjoy the discounts, travel is back with a vengeance! With GCash, we are now able to increase transactions and make travel affordable, and accessible. It is also our advertising platform, an effective one at that as it directly correlates with GCash transactions."

Mr. Franco Pantangco the Business Development and Partnership Lead of mgames also discussed about Hyper Casual Games where you compete, play and get rewards. In GCash initiatives, there are now in app advertising which resulted in phenomenal growth on engaging with GLife users, coming from leads of successful campaigns. It's a multifaceted segment, and their next move is to utilize mgames partnership with Tempo that also utilizes all Filipino music. 

Improvements to the app will certainly continue and they plan to use AI technologies to further fuel your passions with solutions that effectively increase what you can do with your business, make it easy use and safe at all points of transaction. If you want to see what they can do for you, head on to beta.gcash.com/partner-solutions and be connected to existing GCash users worldwide!

Huawei ICT Academy Inks Partnership with 15 Schools in the PH

Huawei just partnered up with 15 Universities and Colleges via Huawei ICT Academy in the Philippines. This comes as they wish to develop, build and strengthen the country's local ICT talent ecosystem. This includes prestigous schools like University of the East, STI College in Alabang, Southville International School and Colleges, Colegio de Muntinlupa, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa, Southern Luzon Technological College Foundation, Angeles University Foundation, Marinduque State College, and the University of the Assumption among others.

In Visayas and Mindanao they've also partnered up with schools like University of the Visayas and Cebu Institute of Technology, Xavier-Ateneo de Cagayan University, Holy Cross of Davao College and Jose Maria College in Davao.

This is part of Huawei's corporate social responsibility programs under the Huawei ICT Academy. They provide certification courses in the fields of AI, big data, cloud computing, storage management, 5G communication, security which would benefit faculty and students alike. They initially laucnhed this in 2018 and was successful in University of Southeastern Philippines. It has spurred growth in the region and has produced competent teachers, students that have had Huawei Certified Network Associate certifications and some of them getting certified as Huawei Academy Instructors.

That's good news!

Shopping Fun With The New SODEXO Mobile Pass

I'm a shopaholic. I go from one place to another and buy specific things, or by bulk quite often. Whether it's clothes, shoes, groceries, it's not a problem with me because I enjoy doing it. It's like therapy and I'm sure I'm not alone right?

I received a message through SMS a few weeks ago and was surprised with a gift. It was from SODEXO, and it had a bunch of numbers in it which confused me at first because the only SODEXO I know were pretty much the SODEXO Gift Certificates, specifically the Premium Pass commonly accepted in their partner stores. The text message is actually a new service they've launched called SODEXO Mobile Pass and I was so excited to try it out on how it works. I knew the best way to do that is to go to 3 malls and buy stuff! I know we can get free advice from their official website where to go. So I took my phone, used Smart Communications LTE and browsed for the establishments that accepted SODEXO Mobile Pass which you can see here.

The SM Store

Everybody goes to SM (because they've got it all for you!) and I'm so glad that SODEXO Premium Pass is accepted in this mall. They even partnered with SM and have their own merchant GC's so I was sure the SM Mobile Pass is going to be accepted here. I was expecting that there will be some small hitches because as mentioned it is a new service, but I talked to the right people and guided to the installment terminal on the lower ground of SM Cubao. 

I got two of these bed covers for myself, it was on sale and I didn't have to choose the other designs. As long as it's blue I'm good!

I proceeded to pay in the counter and they checked procedures on their manual. They shot the bar code that was on the email on my phone and voila! It was already accepted!

Now the number on the text message is actually the number of the Gift Certificate. Just in case the machines can't process that by manually putting in the number on their terminal, you should show the email that comes with your SODEXO Mobile Pass. They scanned it on their terminal and I heard the beep, it deducted the amount and I paid for the remaining price. Now imagine if you are giving these to guests of an event, by merely knowing their phone number and email address, you can get them shopping just by showing these things on the counter. It was fast and I didn't have to bring papers with me. I just showed them the GC and number on the phone and it was good as cash! So I had to do more right? Right.

Shopwise

Now I saw Rustan's as partner establishment on their site. I always use my GC's in Shopwise because they are the same company. I haven't asked yet if they do accept the Sodexo Mobile Pass, so imagine my surprise when I saw this on the counter.

So right from the get go, I would not have issues using SODEXO Mobile Pass

Mom said so. So I bought rice, frozen Chicken Balls, sweet potatoes for the diet and a white bread.

All gift certificates need to be verified at the Customer Service counter. There are no lines on this one.

Then show your SODEXO Mobile Pass on the counter and pay for the excess if you have some.

Doing groceries was a breeze and they even helped us pack stuff, put them in boxes and keep on the carts since we needed to shop some more. Shopwise closes 11PM so if you need to do your grocery shopping even at night, this place is super convenient. Their right smack in the middle of Araneta Center too, so if you are in nearby communities you can just park your car on the second floor, go down and shop then come back if you would need to do errands elsewhere. Which I exactly did.

BENCH

I was hungry for shirts and shoes and of course where else to go but BENCH. They just concluded the Bench Fashion Week and even included one of the world's finest Male Supermodel and World's Sexiest Math Teacher Pietro Boselli. I was there and did my best to take notes what to wear from the Spring Summer 2017 collection. Pietro wore this.

So I did the natural thing to replicate what he wore that day. I think I've got that Manila shirt on point!

Now I suggest you actually show them the SODEXO Mobile Pass and email that came with it early on before you do purchase an item as I see they are still rolling out the service on most BENCH stores. The large ones in huge malls actually accepted it and I didn't have any problems at all. I could see in the near future, all their partner establishments would easily have these transactions work just like their SODEXO Premium Pass.

Here's more reason to note why it's a good idea!

I believe in the convenience this has brought to me, and if you think about it, we're in the digital age where killing trees (since that's where paper comes from) is so passe. It's good for the environment, everybody has a cellphone, everyone uses data especially in the metro so make sure these holidays to take your presents, your GC's a SODEXO Mobile Pass. I know because I just did and remember, this is the best Gift and Reward for your Employees, Customers and Partners. Do the right thing. You may go to their website here or the channels below for more details.

For more information about their products:

SODEXO Philippines

Like them on Facebook


Visit their official website

http://merchants.sodexo.ph/

Free HIV Counselling, Testing and Treatment at QC's Klinika Bernardo

It's alarming, it's not a joke and it's time we put it to stop. I've joined several causes for HIV and it's good that there is an effort at least, but still the rate of increase is something to worry about. Unfortunately, Quezon City has the highest registered number of cases, and in the Philippines 77% of the total new cases come from NCR. It has increased up to 25 percent and estimates say that in 2015 we might get to 45,000 no joke. I am distraught at the numbers, but more importantly depressed at what could happen, the person beside you might be a carrier and we don't even know it. 

Danton Remoto says "Mind you, we've got 1.5 Million people already who died from for AIDS/HIV cases and since I'm from "laglag" now and not from "ladlad", I'm helping the Quezon City government with efforts to address these issues." 

"The state of HIV in the Philippines has rapidly changed in the last 5 years, and it's growing. The number of HIV infections is now 1 new case every 1 hour and 15 minutes, which is about 17 cases per day. There is now 21,000 diagnosed since then. Sexual contact is still the number 1 way of getting it and sharing needles is next. Filipino males are the highest, it also stems from unprotected sex. What's alarming is 15-24 years old comprise 30 percent of this number. We might have less smoking, drugs and vices but have increased sexual adventurism. Thank you to USAID for their invaluable assistance to this effort. We hope all government units follow suit." says Assistant Secretary Pauline Urial of DOH. 

Senior Public Advisor in USAID Dr. Milton Amayun adds "In the Philippines when we talk about HIV we often think of bad news, but really the threat is real. Out of the total number of HIV cases, 93 percent is male. This requires focus, and would you believe there is 812% growth since 2008. We congratulate the QC Government for we encourage everyone, just like Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte here to get tested. The US Government is supporting the Philippine government efforts, and piloting things like this one in Quezon City is impressive. I hope others follow suit. We are very please to partner with them in fighting AIDS/HIV with the objective to have 0% increase, 0 discrimination and reaching out to more people in need." 

Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte says "The first step in making a solution in this problem is accepting that there is a problem. We proactively partner in Government and NGO's to set up places like Klinika Bernardo and ensure the health services are given to them. The change will make it conducive to people and we will make additional clinics in other parts of Quezon City. This is part of our continued support to the youth so they have somewhere to seek advice from, especially health concerns. We are progressive, we are going to move forward and will also put up a specialized one for women at the Quezon City General Hospital. We have a gender sensitive anti discrimination ordinance that includes the LGBT sector, they now have equal rights in services. To know is to live, we recognize it is our responsibility to address this issue." 

Mayor Herbert Bautista proudly says "The officers of our health department are professional career officers. They are the ones who are really running the government. To be able to continue programs and implement policies, our thrust is heavily relied by bureaucracy. We come up with the policies and have a progressive council that knows that this issue should be dealt with. We do not condone, but we accept facts and reality. Klinika Bernardo is only a small investment and we hope it gets done in other cities especially in highly urbanized ones. The impact of this is very strong, we thank USAID when they first presented it to me. It was impressive, the purpose is to make the HIV council to monitor on a regular basis. We are very fortunate to be lower than some ASEAN countries but we do know this contribution is important and we will annually do this in our programs without compromising their privacy. We will also launch more communications plans, and perhaps build homes or shelters for people with HIV too. USAID has been our partner in TB and other diseases and I hope we continue to do this with Department of Health and our Vice Mayor for this, and the other issues that have been addressed with that. We just have to let them know that there's government presence, a government that will take care of them too." 

Klinika Bernardo is the first male sexual and reproductive facility in the country. The sooner you get tested, the sooner you can get treatment. This is why Klinika Bernardo had a facelift, it is now conducive to go back for testing and counseling. Their clinic is just behind Ramon Magsaysay High School in Cubao, Quezon City. It's easy to see and spot, just look for the leaf symbols on the street and on the building!

For more information about their cause:

klinika.bernardo

Like them on Facebook


Visit their official website

https://www.facebook.com/KlinikaBernardo