For financial services to become more accessible, banking increasingly needs to go where customers are.
Building on the long-standing relationship between PLDT Enterprise and China Bank Savings (CBS), the two companies are working with Samsung Electronics Philippines to strengthen the bank’s existing field-based Automatic Payroll Deduction (APD) distribution model through digital tools that help bring loan application assistance closer to Department of Education (DepEd) teachers and non-teaching employees.
At the center of the initiative is the APD Smart App, CBS’ internal digital origination platform, which enables authorized CBS personnel to digitally facilitate APD loan applications in the field. Supported by Smart connectivity and Samsung mobile devices, CBS APD field personnel can use the platform while serving educators in schools, DepEd offices, and other field locations across its nationwide distribution network.
The initiative digitally enables and strengthens CBS’ established field-based APD model, supporting faster deployment, field productivity, geographic reach, scalability, and improved client accessibility. It allows CBS teams to facilitate digital loan origination closer to educators, including those in geographically dispersed or remote locations.
“Samsung is pleased to partner with China Bank Savings and PLDT Enterprise for this initiative. By bringing together mobile technology, connectivity, and CBS’ digital platform, this collaboration can help bring banking services closer to educators,” said Roman Han, President, Samsung Electronic Philippines.
Samsung Electronics Philippines provided the mobile devices that enable CBS APD field personnel to access and use the APD Smart App in the field and also hosted the contract signing at its Science Hub Tower 4 offices in McKinley Hill; marking the formal start of the collaboration.
For CBS, the initiative supports broader access to banking services for DepEd teachers and employees by strengthening its existing nationwide field distribution model.
The digital setup is designed to support mobility, faster deployment, field productivity, geographic reach, and scalability, while operating within CBS’ established information-security and data-governance framework.
CBS is also the first DepEd-accredited Private Lending Institution (PLI) to receive DepEd approval to undertake this specific digital APD initiative through the APD Smart App. The milestone reinforces the significance of the partnership beyond connectivity and devices, with digital origination brought closer to educators in the field.
“Serving our customers well means giving our people the ability to respond to them wherever they may be. This mobility initiative gives our lending teams greater flexibility to work in the field while supporting our efforts to make financial services more accessible to DepEd teachers. We value PLDT Enterprise as a partner that has continued to understand and support the way our business has evolved over the years,” said James Christian Dee, President of China Bank Savings.
The latest engagement builds on a relationship between CBS and PLDT Enterprise that began in 2007 with fixed voice subscriptions and branch connectivity. The partnership expanded to support the bank’s APDS loans business in 2018, followed by its transition to SD-WAN in 2022 and the continued addition of wireless services for various customer lending units.
“Our partnership with China Bank Savings shows how technology can make a meaningful difference when it is built around how people actually work and how customers need to be served. By enabling their lending officers to stay connected and productive wherever their work takes them, we are helping CBS build a more agile operating model that supports both business growth and its goal of widening access to financial services,” said Victor S. Genuino, Head of PLDT Enterprise Key Industries Group and President and CEO of ePLDT and VITRO Inc.
By bringing together the APD Smart App, Samsung mobile devices, Smart connectivity, and CBS’ nationwide APD field force, the collaboration supports a more scalable and responsive APD distribution model designed to bring digitally enabled loan origination closer to educators.
