BDO bags Citi Tower

We all know that Sy fami

ly- led Banco de Oro Unibank is the country’s biggest bank. But what many people don’t know is that BDO has also become one of the biggest office landlords in the Makati central business district.

We’ve earlier reported that BDO is interested to buy the Makati office space to be vacated by American banking giant Citi, which, in turn, is moving to Citi Plaza at 34th St. BGC. From what we hear, BDO indeed recently won the bidding for Citi’s Makati head office, consisting of about 15 out of 35 floors of grade-A office space at Citi Tower. Thus, expect this building—whose lobby faces Valero St.—to carry a new signage soon.

It has been reported that Citi will keep its branch at the Paseo de Roxas office albeit it has shrunk the size of its Makati branch. The renovation has been completed to reflect a more modest footprint. On top of the office space acquired by BDO at Citi Tower, BDO also bought a portion of the formerly expansive Citi branch fronting Paseo de Roxas. Although it will now share the branch space with Citi, it’s big enough for BDO to likewise put up a new branch side by side Citi’s.

If the grapevine is correct, Citi’s office space was sold for nearly P200,000 a square meter, marking a new high for an “old” office property. Completed in 1985 or a year before the Edsa Revolution, this office condominium ( where most of the space was taken up by Citi, which thus held the naming right for decades) was developed by a consortium that included Ayala Land. Real estate veteran Rick Santos of real estate consulting firm Santos Knight Frank brokered the property deal.

So apart fromBDOEquitable Tower, Shell House (behind China Bank and not too far from Citi), First e-Bank Tower and BDO EPCI Twin Towers along Makati Avenue, BDO has a new crown jewel added to its office property inventory. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA

Cardless, not cashless

Philippine Savings Bank has recently come up with an innovative way of allowing clients to withdraw cash from the ATM without the use of the ATM card, while primarily addressing any potential security risks.

A client just needs to log on to PSbank mobile or internet banking to create a cardless withdrawal transaction request. Once logged in, the client must select “cardless withdrawal,” choose the PSBank account where the amount will be withdrawn and type in the nominated four-digit PIN and the amount.

Afterwards, the client will receive PIN 2 or a new set of unique six-digit system-generated PIN. This PIN 2 is valid within 30 minutes from the time of request. After getting the two PIN codes, the client can go to any PSBank ATM, press the “enter” key to start a cardless withdrawal transaction, key in the two PIN codes and amount to be withdrawn.

The amount for every cardless withdrawal transaction can range from P100 to P10,000, but the amount must be divisible by P100. Daily maximum withdrawal limit is set at P30,000. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA

Taiwan tourism push

One destination that’s been very popular with Filipino travelers in recent months is Taiwan.

The island just north of Luzon has been popular with tourists for its many attractions that include temples, museums, nature tours and, of course, its Instagram-worthy food.

But that doesn’t mean its tourism relationship with the Philippines is a one way road. The country’s de facto embassy in Taipei—the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco)—wants to make sure that Taiwan balances the equation by having more Taiwanese visit the country, too.

And what better way to publicize the Philippines’ myriad of attractions than through an eyecatching television campaign?

Biz Buzz learned that Meco recently launched a couple of TV ads aimed at Taiwanese travelers to convince them to visit the country’s “nearest southern neighbor” as their next vacation destination.

The campaign promotes the Philippines as “the nearest tropical paradise” to Taiwan and highlights various destinations in the archipelago like white sand beaches, unique landscapes, mouth-watering cuisine, colorful nightlife and the country’s trademark hospitality.

And why not? Taipei to Manila is just about two hours away by plane, and the journey could even be shorter if one chooses a destination in, say Northern Luzon like Laoag.

The TV campaign is the brainchild of Meco Chair An

gelito Banayo (yes, he’s been appointed as the country’s de facto ambassador to Taiwan, after having played a role in the campaign of President Duterte in 2016) and the Department of Tourism.

Meco hopes that the ad campaign will create a “subconscious awareness” of the Philippines among the Taiwanese general public—a more positive one, that is, after all the bad blood created by the unfortunate sea standoff between the Philippine Coast Guard and some Taiwanese fishermen a couple of years ago.

Meco plans to have the tourism campaign air in more than 22 television stations in Taiwan starting this month. Considering that Taiwan is the country’s fifth-biggest source of tourists (after Korea, US, China and Japan, respectively), the investment should be worth it. —DAXIML. LUCAS

Challenging the incumbents

A string of smaller internet players are starting to make their voices heard, presenting a potential new era of challenges for dominant players PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom.

Recent announcements from Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp., NOW Corp. and even the Villar family’s Streamtech Systems Technologies (which is securing a congressional franchise) join somewhat more established companies like Skycable in their bid for a bigger slice of the fixed broadband space.

Of course, none of the com- panies would outright say they are challenging PLDT or Globe, formidable opponents which could make rivals with less fortitude eat their own words.

But the writing is on the wall, with these companies increasingly expanding in an area where the telco sector is seeing the next wave of growth: The relatively poor state of fixed internet around the country.

This time around, small players appear to have the backing of the government. The Department of Information and Communications Technology, through its acting secretary

Eliseo Rio Jr., promised access to a government-controlled international gateway by 2019.

The general idea is by providing an option for cheaper bandwidth and its own national broadband project, this would spur the entry of more small players, especially those in the rural areas.

Of course, they would only be serving a particular segment, which is fixed-internet. But that still matters given this is a business where the big telcos are leaning on for future growth.

It’s a different kind of competition, and perhaps not the usual major consolidated power that PLDT and Globe have dealt with and eventually snapped up through the years.

Recently, PLDT chair and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan made the case for the current model where big integrated players are more likely to succeed.

“People have got to appreciate that in this new world of digital, where telco is at the centerpiece of that world, you have to be an integrated institution,” he said. “You may offer pieces of the services, which is fine, and maybe you can make money. But it cannot be at the scale of what PLDT is, unless you are willing to replicate our network.”

Is Pangilinan correct or will the DICT’s future model, if it comes to pass, succeed? That remains to be seen.