Hassle-free’ cash card launched in Subic Free Port

SUBIC BAY FREE PORT—Vacations and leisure trips to popular tourism attractions in this free port have just gotten more efficient with the recent introduction of a cashless-transaction system for paying the bills.

This, after Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and Pilipinas Micro-Matrix Technology Inc. (PMTI), an information and communications technology firm based in this free port, launched the RCBC MyWallet-WOW Mangga Card that integrated features of an ATM card and a credit card.

Prior to the cobranding venture, MyWallet is known as a prepaid stored-value ATM/cash card designed to give holders easy access to the bank’s deposit and withdrawal facilities, as well as faster transactions with business establishments.

The WOW Mangga Card, on the other hand, was recently introduced in the Subic Bay Free Port for cashless payment with accredited business theme parks, hotels, restaurants and other tourism establishments.

The resulting fusion of features “introduces the convenience of cashless transactions with fast and accurate payments that also eliminate the problem of short-changing due to the unavailability of coins,” the firms said in a statement.  

The RCBC-WOW Mangga card can also be used for the unique “hop-on, hop-off” transportation system recently introduced by WOW Card to efficiently bring visitors to various tourism attractions in the Subic Bay Free Port.  

The card, which is now available in RCBC branches nationwide, also allows family vacationers to plan ahead for their trips to Subic with the “Pack Your Own Package” scheme that also provides discounts.

The introduction of the cashless- transaction system, said Raul Marcelo, deputy administrator for business development of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), “will definitely boost the tourism program in the Subic Bay Free Port Zone.”

“At the same time, this will bring Subic to the next level, as far as adapting technology to bolster tourism is concerned,” he added.

The SBMA had earlier endorsed the introduction of PMTI’s WOW Mangga Card to draw more foreign tourists who are more at home with cashless transactions.

“With WOW Card’s joint venture with RCBC, Subic’s bid to be at the cutting edge of technology is further strengthened,” Marcelo said. Written by Henry Empeño / Business Mirror Correspondent

Malls, other public places to serve as polling centers

Manila Bulletin

Shopping malls and other similar public places would serve as polling centers in the future where voters can cast their votes as easy as withdrawing cash form an Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

In a forum over the weekend, Sen. Richard J. Gordon said voters will no longer have to troop to the provinces to vote.

“In the future, one only has to go to the mall, find an automated polling machine, and cast his or her vote. The idea is they can vote only once. If they do that in other machines, they will immediately be barred to vote again,” said Gordon, author of the automated elections law.

Gordon expressed confidence that the experience in the autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) can be replicated in the next elections in 2010.

The automated elections in ARMM were successful despite the unstable security situation, inadequate communication and transportation infrastructure, as well as the prevalence of illiteracy and widespread poverty in the region.

Gordon noted that despite the lack of time for massive voter education, the voters in Maguindanao generally described their voting experience as “easy and amazing.”

Vince Dizon, spokesman for Smartmatic-Sahi, the company which provided the technology used in the ARMM polls, said the success of the pilot test in Maguindanao proved that the country is ready for full automation come 2010 and beyond.

In the ARMM automated elections, more than 2,000 teachers in Maguindanao had a first-hand experience in using the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) machines in the voting and counting process.

“It was Sen. Gordon’s efforts in the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on election automation that pushed the Comelec to ensure automation of the ARMM elections. We owe it to him that we were able to successfully pilot test the technologies in preparation for the 2010 national elections,” Dizon, who was at the same forum, said.