Business

New York—This probably isn’t what the United Nations had in mind when it established the International Day of Peace: Burger King is asking McDonald’s to join forces to create a “McWhopper.” 

Middle East (ME) carriers that are being investigated by the US and European governments for receiving over $23 billion in government subsidies can use their unfair financial advantages against local carriers if they manage to secure new entitlements in the forthcoming bilateral air talks with the Philippines. Philippine Airlines (PAL) predicts a repeat of the Philippines’ bitter experience with abusive …

By Jerry Maglunog  An estimated 70 percent of the country’s 38 million credit and automated teller machine (ATM) cards may not be able to migrate to the Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) chip from the current magnetic strip in the next two years, which should be a cause of worry for an ATM or credit-card owner. 

By Riza Lozada The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is beefing up coins in circulation by bidding out a contract for the supply of P1.2 billion worth of new metal currencies this year, based on a bid procurement offer issued this month. 

Singaporean investment bank DBS forecasts an improvement in the country’s economic output in the second quarter. 

Washington—United States Federal Reserve (the Fed)officials appeared to edge closer last month to a decision to raise interest rates as early as September. At the same time, officials remained concerned about low inflation, sluggish wages and a sharp slowdown in China—factors that will help determine whether they raise rates next month. 

Athens, Greece—Greece was receiving the first 13 billion-euro ($14.5-billion) payment of its new bailout, with 12 billion euros earmarked for repaying debts and the remainder for settling arrears to public sector suppliers. 

Online accounts surged by 35.1 percent to 174,592 last year from 129,255 in 2013. Of this total, 99.6 percent or 173,895 were retail accounts. Since 2009, online accounts have grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 43.9 percent, the 2014 Stock Market Investor Profile report of the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) showed. 

SM Supermalls, through its technology and lifestyle center Cyberzone, held this month its annual Cyber Month Tech Sale, a month-long indulgence for the tech-savvy, game geeks and gadget lovers. 

By Jerry Maglunog  Despite their generous-sounding pitches, consumer loans give banks the biggest margins on lendings. An average of 15 percent to 20 percent in interest goes to a bank that approves either a car, housing, salary or personal loan.