President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo recently signed into law the Republic Act No. 9576 that aimed to increase the minimum deposit coverage provided by the Philippine Deposit Insurance corporation (PDIC) from its maximum deposit of P250,000 to P500,000.

PGMA signed it yesterday, April 29, 2009 during the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Investor’s Recognition day at the World Trade Center, Pasay City.

The new law was created to encourage depositors to keep their deposits in the bank to be protected in the midst of economic crisis. The new law will also keep the PDIC fiannciall and operationally strong to fulfill its task and mandate.

the law also gives regulatory and administravtive authority to PDIC to monitor and prescribed which deposit products (such as bonds, trust accounts, securities, fictitious accounts, etc.) covered by the insurance and trhe government which the PDIC provides.

The PDIC has now the authority to conduct investigations and examinations of banks and may even inquire deposit accounts to minimize the risk to the deposit Insurance Fund (DIF).

More enhanced leagl protection is also given to the directors, officers, employees and agents of PDIC from any unfounded and malicious prosecution arising from their performance and duties.

The PDIC also has given authority to reorganize their organizational structure to conform with the new law.

The best banks in the Philippines were unveiled based on their services, assets and deposits. It seems like the new reigning number 1 is not a surprise to everyone, and many think that it will stay on top in years to come!

Banco De Oro (BDO) is now the largest bank in the country in terms of assets and deposits ousting Metrobank as the reigning bank in 2007. BDO’s success is primarily due to the merge of Banco de Oro and Equitable-PCI Bank in 2006 and the number of its outlet in all SM Malls in the country. BDO also offers longer service hours compared to other banks in the country, they are open at 9:00am and closes at 7:00 pm, and even had Saturday offices in chosen outlets. BDO can be found almost everywhere, from SM malls to busy districts in the city and municipalities across the nation. No wonder how they dethrone big banking competitors.

Here’s the complete list of top banks in the country today, in terms of assets and deposits:

Assets

1. Banco de Oro (BDO) - Php808.0 billion  (Last year’s #2)
2. Metrobank - Php758.5 billion (Last year’s #1)
3. Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) - Php658.4 billion (Last year’s number #3)
4. Landbank of the Philippines - Php434.0 billion (Last year’s #4)
5. Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) – Php290.9 billion (Last year’s #5)
6. Philippine National Bank (PNB) - Php276.8 billion (Last year’s #6)
7. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) - PhP270.2 billion (Last year’s #7)
8. Unionbank of the Philippines - Php208.2 billion (Lat year’s #9)
9. Chinabank- Php207.3 billion (Last year’s #10)
10. Citibank- Php187.8 billion (Last year’s #8)

Deposits

1. BDO - Php634.3 billion (Last year’s #3)
2. Metrobank - Php585.8 billion (Last year’s #1)
3. BPI - Php541.2 billion (Last year’s #2)
4. Landbank - Php333.6 billion (Last year’s #4)
5. PNB - Php201.2 billion – (Last year’s #5)
6. RCBC - Php196.4 billion – (Last year’s #6)
7. Chinabank - Php173.9 billion –(Last year’s #8)
8. Unionbank - Php162.0 billion –(Lat year’s #10)
9. Allied Bank - Php139.8 billion – (Last year’s #9)
10. Citibank - Php121.6 billion – (Last year’s #7)

www.tsinoy.com

Effective customer service is significant in any business, it attracts more customers and money of course.  When a customer is satisfied with the service of the store for instance, he/she will pass it instantly to others which is great.

The Philippine Trade Training Center is  inviting all small/big time businessman to attend their seminar on Good Customer Service that will be held twice this year.

Part of the discussion will be the following:

• Your organization’s corporate image
• Understanding your customers
• Communication: A key to effective customer service
• telephone Ethics
• Handling customer complaints and inquiries
• Achieving customer satisfaction

The seminar will be on May 26, 2009 and on August 12, 2009 at the PTTC Center, Pasay City (beside World Trade Center).

For inquiries, please contact:

Ms. Susan Bellezo at 468-8962-70 or e-mail her at tbmd@pttc.gov.ph, info@pttc.gov.ph. Or visit theri website www.pttc.gov.ph

More and more people are securing their finances and theri future putting theri money on Mutual Funds, where they became as shareholders.

Mutual Fund is an investment company that pools the funds of many individual and institutional investors to form a massive asset base. The assets or the funds will be entrusted to a full time fund manager who will develop and secure the portfolio of security investments.  A mutual can make money from its securities investments in two ways: a security can pay dividends and interest to the fund, or a security  can rise in value.  The fund passes any dividends, interest or profits on the sale of its portfolio securities, less fund expenses, to shareholders in the form of distributions.

There are four types of Mutual Funds that exists in the country, which are:

• Bonds-  Bond funds invest primarily in bonds such as treasury notes issued by the Philippine government and commercial papers issued by reputable companies in the Philippines. Bonds provides capital preservation while maintaining a conservative stance in terms of allocation.

• Money Market Funds- Almost the same as bonds but differ in terms of investments which up for 1 year or less.

• Equity Funds- Members of Equity funds usually shares stock in Philippine big corporations.

• Balanced Funds- Members both invest in bonds and shares a stock in companies.

There are 22 Mutual Funds in the country today were 10 mostly are Balanced Funds. 6 companies are Bond Funds while 5 is in Equity Funds. However, only one company offers Money market Funds.