GCash Futurecast 2021: Unlocking Innovations

Just got off the GCASH event called Futurecast 2021 and they pronounced some really good news about their financial app.

So really, what's next?

The goal is to bring you better solutions and better lives. Martha Sazon the CEO of GCash says "We all know the past year has been a struggle, we are still coping. We want you to know that GCash is your buddy through all of this, since the lockdown, I too haven't had the chance to meet my whole team but we focused on hwo to make Filipinos lives better. We can be there in times of need, for paying bills, for donating, everyday transactions, our user base now doubled. Currently we have 38 million Filipinos use our app. We are the number one financial app in the country and we strive to further improve our services. Not only to consumers, merchants, even the government. We empowered people through our cashless payments, we have registered social sellers, even sari sari stores and tricycle drivers now accept GCash. This amounts 16B to almost 2 Million Filipinos. The government saved a lot through GCash and now, we are collecting typhoon and COVID drives because we are secure and seamless. We know Titas of Manila need to learn how to use it, teaching them is an easy task. Families, people from far flung areas have no access to finances, but all Filipinos deserve to save, invest and grow their money. We believe GCash everyday will be possible, lifestyle, entrepreneurship.

GLife is where users can now transact with their favorite brands. Buy, transact and subscribe without downloading other apps, because it's all in on the GLife section of your GCash app. We give you deals, the best ones in the market. 

Social sellers can use their personal QR to make transactions easy, to send money and pay bills with it. Wanting to not leave anyone behind, you can do paytime and playtime with it. You can have several companies (35 of them!) providing entertainment, shopping, food, without downloading their individual app and costing space on your phone because it is accessible through GLife. I've tried purchasing chicken when it came out, it was such a deal!

Financial Services

Equal chance for a brighter future. Doesn't that sound promising? In a nutshell, they've got these services running inside the GCash app. They're still developing the platform and promise to bring more services in the future, here's what they currently have:

GSave has the highest interest rate in the country, insured by PDIC, you can also be assured with what you deposit.

GCredit can give you access to cash when you need it

GInvest can get you to invest with as low as 50 pesos.

GInsure can also get you insurance including coverage of COVID.

GForest gets you the chance to also plant trees while doing several things in the app.


Their goal is to make Filipinos live better, and I think that is achievable. PureGo for groceries, Lazada for Shopping, Gawin for household help, Fully Booked for your favorite titles, Goama Games for your gaming needs, Gadgets at Datablitz, Bo's Coffe, Gong Cha, Mc Donalds, Tapa King, tons of them are listed and you can set favorites when you feel the need to. Oh and if you see the deals, it's unbelievable especially for the 50% OFF I've experienced a couple of times.

Entrepreneurship

Local farmer, fishermen, tricycle, medium sized companies, no matter what we do and what we are, they want to help every Filipino entrepreneur do cashless and safe transactions through GCash. Fe Mir the GCash Marketing Head says "People are looking for new opportunities to keep their business afloat. The business of every enterprise in the country is a personal one, we want to help you in the new normal. GCash Pro can give easy payment solutions, it's secure and we want to help entrepreneurs improve their business. Platforms have their eCommerce activity exploding, we made QR on demand so you can receive money accurately. We have so many business solutions and businesses can go to our GCash Merchant Portal so you can submit requirements online and hassle free. We will be adding credit and other options soon. We want you to have Finance for All. We want to have a GCash option in every convenience store, sari sari store and Tricycle soon."

Finance for All

38 Million Filipinos have financial potential and GCash through GInvest can be accessible to all. You can get your money to work with you. GSave is fully digital and hassle free, only needs one ID for it to be verified. GSave also doesn't need any maintaining balance, interest rates are competitive (4% per year) and saving regularly would be a good thing. If you need an emergency fund or vacation funds, a lot of people have already opened a GSave account (over 3M actually). GInvest on the other hand allows you to invest in local or international funds. It need not to be complicated, and GInvest allows you to do that even for 50 pesos. Fund managers from reputable companies allow you to invest in 5 different types of corporations. It's also easy to monitor because it shows graphs on the GCash app itself. In just a few taps, you can now access these services without going through the agonizing paperwork needed for investments.

GInsure makes Insurance easy to purchase, manage and become affordable. This is their partnership with Singlife, with less than 50 pesos a month, you get covered from Dengue and now, cover Covid 19 as well. You can insure your self or your family for this. In the app, you can buy in a simple and straight forward way, soon to have vehicle, travel and property (which will be rolled out soon).

GCredit is cash that can be borrowed. With your GCash transactions, you can use it to build small businesses (like a micro loan) and earn from it during a pandemic. They've shown proof that it is possible during the event when a woman borrowed money and used it for a food business. She grew the amount and had her husband help her make it become a sustainable business today which now provides for their everyday needs and the needs of their children.

GForest is a small little game inside the GCash app that will help reforest places in the country. To date, their goal is to have 500K trees to be planted, and there will be more no matter what season. They are partnering with environmental groups and organizations so they too can get help with this digital bayanihan method.

GLife provides things you need at a click of a button. These services are available now on the GCash app, so if you haven't downloaded it yet, maybe the time is now.

Sharing Should Be Stress Free with Electrolux!

Hi guys! It's that time once again to tell you about the Electrolux Save and Share Blog Series. It's part of a big campaign to teach Moms and their families out there to save money and time of which we know is very important. Here, we get to interview their awesome endorsers Cheska Garcia - Kramer, my favorite Chef Bruce Lim, the pretty Chef Rosebud Benitez and Mommy Mundo's Janice Villanueva so they can tell us their secrets about how to use your time effectively, save a ton on electricity, utilities when at home. 

You see, I have a couple of relatives who have this habit of pooling their old clothes together and donating them to charity on a regular basis. Though I know a lot of organizations who would gladly find this useful, a couple of the items they had on hand were outgrown baby clothes. They got some pretty new ones because it was only used a few weeks since babies grew big over time, so they didn't know where to put it. I had the urge of asking Electrolux ambassadors Chef Rosebud Benitez and Cheska Diaz - Kramer about clothes segregation because they've probably done a lot. Here's what they have to say about it.

We asked Chef Rosebud and Cheska about their hardships in maintaining the process of donating organized. What are their challenges and do they see it as a great way to declutter?

Chef Rosebud says "I guess one thing that we have to think of when we donate clothes is if the clothes we'll be donating would be appropriate for other people to wear. For example, we shouldn't give away old gowns, trench coats, heavy sweaters just so we can remove them from our cabinets because obviously, they're not appropriate for other people to wear daily". I guess she's got a point there, we can't give away those fancy ones to the needy. Think about the people wearing it, keep it basic and functional so that when they do receive it they'll use it appropriately.

Cheska on the other hand pushes for the importance of knowing where your donation will go and implies the use of social media to at least get a glimpse of the situation. She says "At the time of social media where everybody is into it, you are able to see naman that there’s a list of people need. There are already the do’s and don’ts of donating. For a people who have lots of show clothes or party dresses what they do, because they know they can’t donate that, they have a garage sale. The money they make out of it they donate. They look for the proper avenue to donate that money. For those people who have emotional attachment to the things they give, I guess during calamity you are able to detach yourself from that emotional attachment to your things, right? And really look at what it can do to help out other people, that should be enough."

Then we asked them about segregating the clothes, Chef Rosebud simply said "It's important so that it'll be easier to give it to people we'll be donating to." Cheska reiterated "Just like what I said earlier, not everything in your closet can be donated. So for one, try to find out what are the things that are needed. Usually kasi, I’ve done kasi a lot of donations already even with my kids. So when I would set aside their clothes, I may sure they are not the costumes or the party clothes. Instead I make sure that it is what really needed, let’s say mga pantulog, blankets for babies because a lot of babies kasi usually, they only donate for children and adults. So what I would do is I would set aside one kit or like clothes for infants. Para to find out kasi usually they come up with things that could be donated. So know first know what they need and then from there, you can segregate what you can give from your closet. So number one thing is to be informed." With that alone, you can go a long way in making your sharing experience less toxic, easy and stress free.

If you want to know more about more ways and tips on saving and sharing, you may check out more of the Electrolux Save and Share Blog Series by visiting their Facebook page www.facebook.com/thelittlewhitebook or follow @ElectroluxPH on Twitter and Instagram. Thank you Chef Rosebud Benitez and Ms. Cheska Garcia - Kramer for sharing your views and I hope this would really get to help a lot of people.

Love,

KUMAGCOW.COM

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Saving Can Start Early with Electrolux Appliances

Good morning guys! Today we're bringing you the Electrolux Save and Share Blog Series which is part of the Electrolux Delightful-E campaign which aims to help you save money and precious time by making everyday tasks simple and easy. Remember about my article here for saving just by washing clothes? Today, we get to ask Electrolux brand ambassadors about creative and effective ways to save household expenses, to ultimately share blessings to other people who enjoy their Electrolux appliances. In this one, we get to talk to my favorite Chef in the world, Chef Bruce Lim and Mommy Mundo's Janice Villanueva about how they battle day to day's quirks.

At home, just like you... we often think of ways on how to get bills taken cared of. Utilities comprise a big part of the budget and if you get to efficiently use it while lowering costs, you end up using the money you save on more important things. My water bill is crazy, so is electricity. I always end up complaining when I see the numbers at the end of the month when I should have done the deed while we were in the middle of everything. We asked Chef Bruce and Ms. Janice some simple questions to see how they do it and what they do to not have bill shock especially on regular things like utilities. They gave their two cents about how they do it in their homes, you can do this too. Listen up!

Hi Chef Bruce and Ms. Janice! What do you do to ensure that utility bills (especially electricity and water) do not spike up?

Chef Bruce says "I have a family of boys who get dirty a lot and they can change clothes up to 4 times a day. So I have to make sure that my appliances is energy saving like my Electrolux washing machine it has energy saving features that I love! My air conditioners are all Electrolux inverters that also help me save on the energy bill!".

Ms. Janice on the other hand says "My household consists of 8 persons- 5 family members and 3 household staff and keeping utility costs down all boils down to education. For my husband and I, the homeowners, choosing energy efficient appliances, using the right settings for specific situations, and knowing how to use appliances properly are the key. Trickling this down this knowledge to the household helpers and kids is also important. To give an example with the use of airconditioners: 

1) Buy an energy efficient aircon by checking the EE rating, make sure you buy an aircon with capacity that matches the size of the room. 

2) For the helpers, teach them how to keep the aircon filters clean, and how to turn the aircon on and off and set proper thermostat setting. 

3) For the kids, teach them that airconditioners consume a lot of electricity so every hour you save from aircon use can be a big deal. Tell them for example that turning on the aircon at 7pm instead of 6pm everyday, will save you a lot when you multiply each day by 30 days in a month.

Teaching kids is also based on age appropriateness- like for teens, you can teach them to use the timer already. For school age, teach them how to turn and set the thermostat knob to keep aircon energy efficient. For younger kids, teach them to use the fan when it’s possible and the aircon only when really really needed already. When talking benefits, you can even say that cost of that extra hour of aircon use amounts to the price of their favorite toy. Speaking in kids’ terms helps them understand better and allows them to be more involved."

I see Chef Bruce, I too believe in technologies such as inverters would really make energy monster appliances like airconditioners to be efficient. Imagine how much you would be able to get if you use them almost everyday. Inverters make aircon compressors only work when you have already achieved the specific comfort and coldness. It can get you at least 30-50% cheaper on the regular bill because it consumes less power. Even if it costs more, you get some kind of return in investment because of the savings you get from it. Pretty neat stuff. 

Ms. Janice also made some points on the value of teaching kids how much they spend on electricity. Some simple things and adjusting specific times on when to turn appliances ON and OFF or when needed is key. I delved more on on that part on my second question.

Since you are both parents, do you find it important to share the value of savings to your kids? If yes, how do you do it? At what age is it best to start introducing the value of money and saving? Any tips on how other parents can creatively do this to their kids?

Chef Bruce says "Yes, as early as you can. I always explain to my boys about the value of a buck. I teach them about not wasting food and how to make use of the leftovers. Like a roast chicken will be dinner then breakfast will be a chicken sandwich and snack time will be chicken noodle soup.

My family and I all have reusable water bottles, we stay in one room when its play time so we use just one air conditioner. Piggy banks are the way to go as well. So all the change I have in my pockets goes into a family piggy bank. Then when its full I we change it in the bank and I show them how much we saved. Then it becomes a play day with daddy!"

Ms. Janice adds "Like in anything, early education is important. Making saving a habit and instilling this in our kids early is the first step towards their financial wellness. The most basic is to open a bank account for them. If they are of age, involve them in this process. Bring them to the bank with you, show them how you fill up the form and deposit slip, give their money to the bank teller and show them their passbook. Money gifts from birthdays and Christmas make good seed money for their first junior savings account. Show them how their money earns interest every month. Then every time they get money gifts or their weekly allowance, provide them with healthy reminders and prompts to make them decide to keep the money in the bank than to spend it.

Besides this, you can also have concrete activities to provide a bit more “instant gratification” and let them reap rewards of saving money. When my kids want a new toy and we will not buy it for them because there is no special occasion, they will save up for the toy and earn money by saving their allowance in school, doing chores at home (we have a rate card for different chores), make crafts to sell to their lolas, uncles and aunts and our family friends and even at some of the mini markets/ bazaars that I organize. They also sometimes work at our kid-friendly events as staff and earn an allowance which they also put in their savings fund."

You get it fresh from these people who live pretty successful lives. It does matter when you've got your family involved in using appliances efficiently and have savings off of it whether you are an advocate of using electricity and water like they do. I learned quite a lot just by asking them a couple of questions and got answers just like what experts do. They want you to have the same things they enjoy while hoping you'll live life to the fullest at your homes. It's easy if you get to know how to integrate key Electrolux appliances too. To know more, please follow @ElectroluxPH on Twitter and Instagram. Or like their channels below. You can start early, trust me it's easy!

  

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