Inquirer, Security Bank in partnership for online cash management system

Seated from Left to Right: Dennis Joy Ejercito, First Vice President, Head, Cash Management Division, Security Bank Corporation. Lolet Mangilit, First Vice President, Corporate Banking Group, Security Bank Corporation. Eduardo Olbes, EVP, Head, Corporate & Investment Banking Segment, Security Bank Corporation. Renato Reinoso, Chief Operating Officer, Philippine Daily Inquirer Inc. Rudyard Arbolado, General Counsel, Philippine Daily Inquirer Inc. Jose Villareal, VP for Finance, Philippine Daily Inquirer Inc. Jaime Ramos, Head, Collection & Billing Services, Philippine Daily Inquirer Inc. PDI-Security Bank BIPPS mock signing at the PDI office in Makati City. INQUIRER PHOTO / LEO M. SABANGAN II

The Philippine Daily Inquirer has entered into a joint venture with Security Bank in using an online system that streamlines transactions between the newspaper company and clients.

The Billing/Invoice Presentment and Payment System (Bipps) is a collection module that allows the Inquirer to post open invoices online for advertisers through Security Bank’s DigiBanker cash management platform.

Launched in 2001, DigiBanker offers solutions for more efficient operations and cost management, according to the bank.

“Innovation is the name of the game. It is the key to move forward,” Inquirer chief operating officer Renato Reinoso said in a Bipps roadshow at the Inquirer main office in Makati City last Monday.

“It is really hard for us to encourage clients to pay up. [It’s a] good thing the collection team thought of how to improve the process through the Bipps, on top of the products and services that we offer our clients,” Reinoso added.

Under Bipps, the outstanding bill will be uploaded by Inquirer into DigiBanker so that the digital file can be easily accessed. The client will be promptly notified via e-mail.

Settling accounts can be done in four steps: Selecting invoice to pay on a first-in, first-out (Fifo) basis; applying discounts or credit memos; selecting modes of payment (real-time and post-dated); and inquiring transactions.

A key feature of the Bipps is the use of a Fifo method in which the outstanding invoices must be paid first before the subsequent receipts can be paid. This also allows the client to settle all payments at once.

Jimmy Ramos, Inquirer collection and billing services head, said the benefits of using Bipps include credit standing management, absence of periodic reconciliation, instant access to payment reports that can be extracted as an Excel file, and personalized attention from collection specialists.

Clients who avail themselves of the new system until Oct. 21, 2015, will get a 2-percent markdown upon sign up on top of other discounts, Ramos added.

Implementation of the Bipps will take two to three days after a firm signs up.

Also present during Monday’s Bipps orientation were Inquirer clients DMCI Homes, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc., Marie France Bodyline International, and Golden Donuts Inc.

“We are very proud to have the opportunity to partner with your team and we look forward to finding more ways to work better,” Eduardo Olbes, Security Bank executive vice president, said in the event. “The business that you’re in, journalism, and the business that we’re in, banking, rely on the same thing—integrity,” Olbes added.