MANILA, July 23 (PNA) — An official of Sy-led Banco de Oro Unibank (BDO) is optimistic on the continued rise of credit card issuance citing that Filipinos are becoming mature on their use of the plastic money.
BDO Senior Vice President and Consumer Lending Group Marketing Head Ma. Nanette R. Regala, in a briefing Tuesday, said Filipinos are now more responsible in using their credit cards citing the delinquencies have declined.
“A lot of the population is now ready to own a credit card,” she said during the launch of the BDO-American Express CashBack Credit Card in Makati City.
BDO acquired the domestic operations of American Express (Amex) in 2007.
Aside from Amex, BDO also offers its own credit card products as well as that of VISA, MasterCard, JCB and UnionPay.
The bank accounts for more than 20 percent of currently enforced card in the country with about 1.5 million of the total issued cards of between 6.5 to seven million.
Regala said the Amex cards account for “substantial” base of their total credit card business.
“It’s a good portion of our base,” she said but declined to give figures.
And with the introduction of the automatic rebate on every BDO-Amex card usage, Regala is optimistic for further increase in the number of people interested to get hold of this card.
“There is a market for people who want the prestige of Amex and they would definitely want instant rebates,” she said.
Holders of BDO-Amex cards will have automatic one percent rebate on their domestic purchases and two percent rebate for overseas purchases whatever the amount is.
An an introductory offer, cardholders will be given a five percent for purchases made until August 31, 2015.
Regala said they will introduce in the next few months CashBack cards that have security chips.
“It’s for added security so people will not be afraid of getting a card,” she added. (PNA)