Business

By Jerry Maglunog With the aim of servicing more Filipinos, the state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank or LBP) has launched a massive expansion in the provinces to reach a bigger number of unbanked Filipinos. 

By Riza Lozada RCBC Bankard credit cards are now embedded with Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV)-chip technology to comply with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s (BSP) Circular 808, issued in August 22, 2013, requiring all BSP-supervised institutions (BSIs) to shift from the traditional magnetic stripe to the more secure EMV-chip technology by the start of next year. 

Washington—The head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank (NY Fed) said he’s less inclined to support a Fed rate hike in September amid recent global turmoil, including falling oil prices and a slowdown in China. 

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.