Continued banking services help local farmers thrive amid COVID-19
Aboitiz Group banking and financial services unit Union Bank of the Philippines, a champion of digital banking in the country, continues to render service to its customers amid the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, significantly benefiting Filipino farmers who rely heavily on the continuing operations of agricultural firms such as Cargill Philippines.
UnionBank is supporting Cargill Philippines by addressing the firm’s request to allow the timely printing and release of checks in certain UnionBank branches. To date, UnionBank has printed 88 checks and released 22 checks.
Founded in 1948, Cargill Philippines employs 750 people and has operations in animal nutrition, poultry processing, grain and oilseed originating, processing and marketing, and food and beverage ingredients in 17 locations nationwide.
“With our thrust of customer-centricity, we accommodated the request but limited it to select branches and allowed Cargill to continue its service. This helped their farmers to continue their livelihood despite the challenges. A simple task was able to elevate lives and ensure that the food industry is not disrupted,” said Sabin M. Aboitiz, Aboitiz Group President and Chief Executive Officer.
With the implementation of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), Cargill Philippines had to close its offices, potentially halting the disbursement of company funds needed to operationalize its businesses, which include the manufacture and distribution of commodities to the food industry, and animal nutrition.
The checkwriter that was to be printed for Cargill was back-to-client, which means that once Cargill’s checks were printed, these are to be sent to Cargill to release to its payees. But with the closure of its office during the ECQ, Cargill requested UnionBank’s branch in Lipa City to instead release its checks to various payees.
“While it was an additional load to the branch which was on skeletal workforce due to the ECQ, we recognized the urgency of the request owing to the nature of the business,” said UnionBank Lipa branch manager Myra Lyn Buntua, referring to Cargill’s request.
Cargill’s payees, which include Copirochi Farms and J. Salonga Trucking, expressed utmost gratitude to UnionBank for going the extra mile in this trying time.
“Through the help of UnionBank Lipa branch, we were able to get our collection and manage our funds despite the lockdown,” these firms said.
Cargill provides food, agriculture, financial and industrial products and services to the world. It has 160,000 employees in 70 countries/regions who are committed to feeding the world in a responsible way, reducing environmental impact, and improving communities.
