PLDT Enterprise, China Bank Savings (CBS), and Samsung Electronics Philippines are working together to digitize CBS’ field-based lending operations for Department of Education (DepEd) teachers and non-teaching employees.
The initiative combines CBS’ APD Smart App, Smart connectivity, and Samsung mobile devices to let authorized lending personnel facilitate Automatic Payroll Deduction (APD) loan applications while working in schools, DepEd offices, and other field locations.
Digital tools bring loan origination closer to educators
At the center of the collaboration is the APD Smart App, CBS’ internal digital loan origination platform for its field teams.
With Samsung devices connected through Smart, authorized CBS personnel can access the platform outside traditional banking locations and assist educators across the bank’s nationwide distribution network.
The setup is designed to improve field productivity and deployment while expanding CBS’ reach to geographically dispersed and remote communities.
It also allows the bank to scale its existing APD distribution model without abandoning its established information-security and data-governance processes.
CBS first DepEd-accredited PLI approved for the initiative
CBS is the first DepEd-accredited Private Lending Institution (PLI) to receive DepEd approval to implement this specific digital APD initiative through the APD Smart App.
The approval gives the collaboration significance beyond the provision of mobile devices and connectivity, as CBS can now bring digital loan origination capabilities directly to educators through its field teams.
For CBS, the goal is to make its lending operation more mobile while giving its personnel greater flexibility to serve customers where they are.
“Serving our customers well means giving our people the ability to respond to them wherever they may be,” said James Christian Dee, President of China Bank Savings.
He added that the mobility initiative gives CBS’ lending teams greater flexibility in the field while supporting the bank’s efforts to make financial services more accessible to DepEd teachers.
Samsung supplies devices, Smart provides connectivity
Samsung Electronics Philippines supplied the mobile devices used by CBS APD field personnel and hosted the contract signing at its Science Hub Tower 4 offices in McKinley Hill.
The collaboration brings together three layers of CBS’ field-based lending operation. The CBS APD Smart App handles digital loan origination, while Samsung mobile devices give field personnel access to the platform. Smart connectivity, meanwhile, keeps the devices connected as CBS personnel move between schools, government offices, and other locations.
PLDT said the combination of mobile devices, connectivity, and CBS’ digital platform can help bring banking services closer to educators by allowing field personnel to process loan applications while working across CBS’ distribution network.
Partnership builds on nearly two decades of connectivity
The initiative also expands a long-running relationship between CBS and PLDT Enterprise that began in 2007 with fixed voice subscriptions and branch connectivity.
PLDT Enterprise later supported CBS’ APDS loans business in 2018, followed by the bank’s transition to SD-WAN in 2022 and the continued addition of wireless services for its lending operations.
The latest collaboration shifts that relationship further toward mobile and digital field operations.
For PLDT Enterprise, the project demonstrates how connectivity can support business processes beyond conventional branch infrastructure, particularly for organizations whose employees need to serve customers across a wide geographic area.
