BDO Unibank Inc. (BDO) won multiple awards at Corporate Governance 14th Asian Excellence Award 2024 in Hong Kong.
This recognition underscores BDO's unwavering commitment to exemplary corporate governance, outstanding investor relations, and strategic leadership in the financial sector. The accolades highlight the bank's dedication to maintaining high standards of transparency, accountability, and sustainable business practices.
To enhance your security, always verify the authenticity of any messages you receive, especially those that create a sense of urgency. Contact BDO Unibank directly through official channels to confirm any suspicious communications. Remember, legitimate institutions will never ask for sensitive information via unsolicited messages. By staying informed and cautious, you can protect yourself from falling prey to scams.
These fraudulent messages may come from unknown 11-digit numbers or email senders, or they may even appear to be from legitimate sources, using a technique known as “spoofing”. The Bank warns that messages claiming a login attempt on online bank account from an unfamiliar device and urging immediate action to "remove" the device are likely scams.
Another modus is a fraudulent text message that claims the recipient's online bank account will be deactivated unless the mobile number is updated, supposedly "as part of a new online system," by clicking on the link provided. A variation of this scheme is a text that claims the recipient's email address has been updated, while also providing a clickable link to "change back" to the previous email address.
Advice from BDO
“Always remember, if the message or the sender urges you to click a link or scan a QR code, it's a scam," cautioned BDO. "Delete such messages immediately and report them to the Bankthrough the following channels: 22567888 (SMS) or reportphish@bdo.com.ph.”
Scammers often prey on potential victims by sending messages that claim the recipient's online bank account has been compromised or that there was an unauthorized login attempt. These unverified messages can cause recipients to panic and follow the instructions, such as clicking on a link that leads to a fake bank website.
On these fake websites, victims may unknowingly enter their bank account details, such as usernames and passwords, which scammers then use to access and steal money from their accounts.
Stay calm and verify
To avoid falling victim to these scams, BDO advises clients to remain calm, never click on any links in suspicious messages, and never share their One-Time PIN or OTP to anyone. Instead, the Bank informs its clients to contact BDO's customer service directly to verify the legitimacy of the message.
If you are abroad and wanted to send financial help to victims of Super Typhoon Karding, through BDO Remit from September 30 to November 30, 2022.
BDO Unibank—through its remittance arm BDO Remit—is waiving the remittance fees for donations sent to victims of Super Typhoon Karding (international name: Noru) to help accelerate the flow of financial assistance to the affected areas in the country.
"It is unfortunate that even as Christmas nears, natural calamities are still very much a reality here in the Philippines. Instead of preparing for the holidays, some of us are grieving and picking up the pieces after the onslaught of the super typhoon,” said BDO senior vice president and head of remittance Genie T. Gloria. "With this campaign and the generosity from our Kabayans abroad, BDO Remit hopes it can help alleviate the pain somehow.”
BDO Remit has subsidiary offices in several countries overseas that can accommodate the sending of donations through these foundations. BDO Remit has offices in Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Daly City in the USA, Toronto, Canada, and London, UK. For the complete list of addresses, donors can visit www.bdo.com.ph, go to Remittance Services and click BDO Remit international network.
“Hopefully, with this, we can encourage more donations from our overseas Filipinos to help those adversely affected by Karding,” Gloria added.
Karding ravaged parts of Luzon last September 25 up to early morning the following day, leaving a trail of destruction, including at least 10 dead and almost P2 billon in agricultural damage, in its wake. Almost 40,000 families were also adversely affected by the typhoon, the 11th tropical cyclone to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility this year.
Led by MUFG Bank of Japan, the ATF Study Group was set up in recognition of the important role that transition finance will play in helping Asian economies move toward net-zero emissions and the challenges they will face.
BDO Unibank joins leading Asian banks in advancing energy transition finance with the publication of the Asia Transition Finance Guidelines and the Asia Transition Finance Activity Report, aimed at helping Asian economies achieve a “just and orderly transition” toward a more sustainable future.
BDO is a member of the Asian Transition Finance Study Group (ATF Study Group) that drafted the guidelines in pursuit of an Asian version of transition finance that is more realistic and achievable for Asian nations. The reports, the Asia Transition Finance Guidelines, and the Asia Transition Finance Activity Report, were created after months of discussion among the core bankers, joined by development banks, export credit agencies, public agencies and finance associations.
The ATF Study Group goal is to create practical recommendations to supplement existing frameworks, including global standards and taxonomies, when financial institutions consider and assess transition finance cases.
The two reports are aimed at distinct audiences. The ATF Guidelines, which are primarily for financial institutions, include technical guidance and transition support for transition finance assessment. The ATF Activity Report, which is for broader stakeholders, is made up of a list of support items the Study Group believes is needed to encourage greater stakeholder engagement.
BDO Unibank believes that its sustainability journey, along with other Asian financial institutions, will be more gradual in pace compared to counterpart banks in Europe and the United States. But in collaborating with others, BDO Unibank welcomes the opportunity to bring everyone towards the same direction and better manage the energy transition for Asian nations.
BDO Unibank will continue to expand its Sustainable Finance initiatives, in place since 2010, towards funding new and existing renewable energy projects to increase their capacity, and support the country’s avoidance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The ATF Study Group’s activities are in alignment with the "Asian version of transition finance,” one of the key pillars of the Asia Energy Transition Initiative (AETI), introduced by the government of Japan to bolster energy transition in Asia. Ministers of Asian countries endorsed the ATF Study Group’s activities at the first meeting of the Asian Green Growth Partnership Ministerial Meeting in April. The ATF Study Group’s new reports were released today at the second ministerial meeting, with hopes they will encourage further understanding of transition finance across Asia.
The ATF Study Group will continue to collaborate with broader stakeholders and meet regularly, working to update and enhance the ATF Guidelines, collaborate further with stakeholders, and encourage implementation of transition finance.
BDO Unibank recognized the best online content creators in the first-ever BDO Blogger Awards.
The BDO Blogger Awards honors bloggers and influencers for sharing useful information, insights, and positivity with their followers and viewers. The awards honor bloggers’ contributions not only in spreading awareness about the bank’s advocacies, but also in initiating important public discussions for a more financially-inclusive industry through content creation.
The Awards feature two segments: the recognition ceremony, which awards the top-performing content creators in terms of the quality of content they published online from 2020 to 2021; and the content creation contest—a thematic activity that challenges participants to come up with unique and creative ways to talk about various topics.
This year, BDO challenged participants to discuss the bank’s innovative digital solutions, which served as an alternative option for clients to perform their bank transactions especially during the height of the pandemic.
And the awards go to…
The Digital Storyteller of the Year award was given to Mary Lorraine Llorin of Super Momma Blog.
For Excellence in Digital Engagement category, the winners were Lally Gonzales of Lally Reflections (3rd place), Berlin Domingo of Momi Berlin (2nd place), and Reylen Castro of Made it Through Mum (1st place).
Awardees for the Influential Blogger of Year category were Mary Lorraine Llorin of Super Momma (3rd place), Reylen Castro of Made it Through Mum (2nd place), and Berlin Domingo of Momi Berlin (1st place).
The winners of the Special Award for Exemplary Initiative were Ruby Caberte of Pinay Mommy Online (5th place), Lhyzie Bongon of Life with Lyzie (4th place), Roselle Toledo of Snapped & Scribbled (3rd place), Sylver Sy of Iconic MNL (2nd place), and Richard Mamuyac of The Newsmakers blog (1st place).
Meanwhile, Fitz Villafuerte of Ready to be Rich was named BDO’s Online Advocate of the Year.
For the Content Creation Contest, winners were Berlin Domingo of Momi Berlin and Reylen Castro of Made it Through Mum for Luzon; Sigrid Lo of Lovingly Momma and Clarice Lao of My Metro Lifestyle for Visayas; and Ruby Caberte of Pinay Mommy Online for Mindanao.
Content Creation Excellence. BDO Unibank virtually staged the 1st BDO Blogger Awards to honor bloggers and influencers nationwide for starting relevant discussions online about financial inclusion through creative
BDO Unibank won the Bank of the Year in the Philippines at the recently held Bank of the Year Awards 2021 of The Banker. This is the 4th time BDO received the Bank of the Year in the Philippines Award from The Banker. Previously, it held the title in 2013, 2017, and 2019.
The London-based financial publication has commended the digital solutions deployed by BDO Unibank in 2021, stating that the modernization prompted better customer service, increased resiliency, and enhanced cybersecurity.
The deployment of the digital solutions has allowed bank clients to open accounts online, make paperless in-branch transactions, and do card-less ATM banking using biometrics or QR Codes. Moreover, they can now link together their BDO accounts in one mobile wallet called BDO Pay, and make online peer-to-peer and consumer transactions easier and faster.
The Banker pointed out that all these efforts allowed “[greater efficiency and] faster turnaround time on transactions as well as greater access to banking systems through an increased number of channels and touchpoints.”
It also lauded BDO’s continued efforts to cater to various customer segments, through the bespoke wealth management products of its subsidiaries: BDO Private Bank, BDO Trust and Investment, BDO Prime, and BDO Securities.
BDO President & CEO Nestor V. Tan added, “We will continue to broaden our market reach to improve customer access and strengthen our presence in underserved areas through BDO Network Bank’s branch expansion outside Metro Manila, complemented by our digital capabilities.”
In celebration of Migrant Worker's Day, BDO Unibank, through its remittance service brand BDO Remit, recently donated hygiene kits to the community pantry set up by Philippine Overseas Employment Administration's (POEA).
The kits, consisting of alcohol and face masks, among others, will benefit some 500 people and serve as a valuable health precautionary tool as POEA distributes them to overseas Filipinos coming back home from abroad, especially for those who will travel to areas in the country with still high COVID cases.
AS COVID-19 continues to adversely impact the lives of millions of Filipinos here and abroad, the efforts to at least mitigate its effects continue.
Setting up a community pantry is POEA's own way of celebrating Migrant Worker’s Day this year as the agency was not able to hold its usual program of providing entertainment and giveaways to their clients, which POEA has been doing since 2017 in collaboration with BDO, because of health protocols.
In lieu of its usual activities, POEA decided to organize a simple community pantry this year to uplift the spirit of OFs and give them something they can use to protect themselves from the virus.
This is not the first time BDO Remit distributed health kits to OFs amid the pandemic.
Last year, in coordination with BDO Foundation, BDO Remit turned over hundreds of bags of hygiene kits to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 and the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange, which were then distributed to OFs who were sent back to the Philippines due to the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, BDO Remit's pre-departure orientation seminar team provided hygiene kits to more than a hundred repatriated seafarers in Iloilo in cooperation with OWWA Region 6 office. In Likewise, while working with OWWA, the Philippine Overseas Labor & Office, and the Philippine General Consulate office, the BDO Remit office distributed face masks to stranded and repatriated overseas Filipinos at the Macau International Airport.
All these form part of BDO Remit's “Kayang-Kaya, Kabayan” campaign, an embodiment of its commitment to empower overseas Filipinos and make them feel that the Bank is ready to support and assist them wherever they may be. For more information on BDO Remit, visit BDO Kabayan Facebook page—BDO Unibank’s dedicated page for the overseas Filipino market.
BDO Unibank was recognized for the first time in the 8th Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards. It has received gold, silver, and bronze awards for its business innovation and effective communications in the 8th annual Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.
The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards are the only business awards program to recognize innovation in the workplace in all 29 nations of the Asia-Pacific region. Stevie Awards are widely considered to be the world’s premier business awards.
BDO’s employee newsletter, The Wayfinder, was recognized with a Gold Award for Innovation in House Organizations and Publications under the Annual Report Awards & Other Publication Categories. Featuring true-to-life employee stories of struggle and success during the pandemic, it was lauded for being an effective instrument in forging and strengthening solidarity, empathy, and cooperation within the organization.
BDO also received two Silver Stevie Awards for:
· The Most Valuable Corporate Response under the COVID-19 Response Categories for its ATM on Wheels initiative, which allowed cash accessibility amid community quarantine restrictions; and
· Innovation in the Use of Celebrities or Public Figures under the Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, and Public Relations Categories for its partnership with emerging social media influencers, TikTokers, to support its new BDO Remit videos starring endorser Piolo Pascual.
Two Bronze Stevie Awards for:
· Innovation in the Use of Video under Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, and Public Relations Categories for its anti-scam video, “Utakan Ang Scammer (Outsmart Scammers),” which equips clients with information to combat scam attacks; and
· Innovation in Public Relations Videos under the Videos Categories for “Celebrating Everyday Heroes,” an inspirational video montage showing how Filipinos found ways to help each other cope through one of the world’s biggest health crises.
“The pandemic made communications more important than ever. We had to modify our communication approach to our public by using digital communications channels more frequently, while keeping in mind our primary objective—that is, to impart factual information to our readers,” said BDO SAVP and Corporate Communications Head Honey Reyes.
More than 900 nominations from organizations across the Asia-Pacific region were considered this year. Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners were determined by the average scores of more than 100 executives around the world acting as judges in March and April 2021.
Stevie Awards president Maggie Gallagher said: “Organizations that won this year have demonstrated that they have continued to innovate and succeed despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and we applaud them for their perseverance and creativity.”
Finding ways amid the pandemic. BDO Unibank was recognized for the first time in the 8th Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, taking home gold, silver, and bronze awards for its business innovation and effective communications.
Despite the pandemic, BDO’s ESG Unit Investment Trust Fund (ESG UITF)—the first of its kind in the Philippines—posted returns of 13.95% and 19.90% in the last six and three months, respectively, leading to end-December 2020.
BDO Unibank’s foray into sustainable investments continues to pay dividends following the global trend of strong growth in environmental, social and governance (ESG)-themed investments.
Economic pundits observed that COVID-19 has only strengthened the importance of ESG as investors look for more resilient investments amidst economic uncertainties brought about by the pandemic.
Globally, assets under management (AUM) anchored on sustainable investments jumped 29% in the fourth quarter of 2020 to $1.7 trillion.
As of end-2020, the value of the AUM of this instrument grew 79% to PhP99.4 million from P55.5 million in 2016.
From Php55.5 million in 2016, the AUM of BDO ESG UITF have grown steadily to Php60.1 million in 2017, Php66.6 million in 2018, Php75.2 million in 2019, and Php99.4 million in 2020.
The BDO ESG UITF followed a similar higher return performance shown by ESG funds globally, proving the importance of sustainable business practices.
“While the Fund is still small, it has the potential to grow in size and importance as more investors are consciously looking for companies that protect the environment, are socially responsible, and practice good governance in a sustainable manner,” BDO said.
The BDO ESG UITF allows investors to see value in socially responsible companies as an investment destination for their funds, and to invest in one fund that covers several companies, instead of investing separately in every local company that they believe creates a positive contribution to society.
“Its importance is further heightened during this time of the pandemic, as sustainable investment amplifies the Bank's resiliency to unforeseen global or local crises” the Bank added.
Remember Piolo Pascual in Starting Over vids in BDO Remit? That was the most watched and engaged vids in my FB page and it touched the heart of every filipinos. No wonder, it won The Quill Awards.
BDO Unibank’s efforts to keep its clients and the general public informed have been recognized with six Excellence and Merit awards at the recently held “Arise: The 18th Philippine Quill Awards”, which “honor exemplary communication research, programs, skills, and creative work.”
The Quill Awards was organized by the Philippine office of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), a global membership association whose members represent various communications discipline including public relations, media relations, corporate communications, public affairs, government relations, community relations, to name a few.
BDO received an Excellence Award in the Social Media Programs category for engaging with TikTokers, an emerging set of online influencers, to start conversations about its BDO Remit videos on the social media platform as well as help bring joy to overseas Filipinos and their beneficiaries at home.
The BDO Remit videos starring endorser Piolo Pascual were launched last year. To bring them closer to customers, the bank partnered with Star Magic’s Rise Artists Studio to have Piolo guest on its “We Rise Together” online show, and get support from its online influencer network. This strategy gave BDO an Excellence Award in the Media Relations category.
Meanwhile, the bank’s “Kabayan, Kasangga, Kasama” campaign, which created awareness for its BDO Remit videos bagged a Merit Award in the Marketing, Advertising, and Brand Communication category. The campaign culminated in one of the first virtual presscons in the Philippines amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
BDO also brought home accolades in the Audio/Visual category for its advocacy videos aimed at different target audiences:
· An Excellence Award for its “Banking on the Filipino” video, which features the bank’s financial inclusion programs and inspires support from its managers and executives during its annual officers meeting;
· A Merit Award for its video for millennials, which features young influencer Angelique Manto getting advice from BDO brand ambassador Pia Wurtzbach on how she can follow in her footsteps and manage her finances better; and
· A Merit Award for its Valentine’s Day-themed financial education video, “Payo para sa Puso,” which was developed as a response to a report that shows the need for millennials to handle their money more responsibly.
Communications Excellence. IABC Philippines recognized BDO Unibank during Arise: The 18th Philippine Quill Awards, which honor exemplary communication research, programs, skills, and creative work. The bank received Awards of Excellence and Merit for its effective communication campaign, media and influencer engagement, and financial advocacy videos.
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