BDO Wins Gold in Kidlat Awards

BDO Unibank, Inc. becomes the first-ever bank to win the coveted Gold Award in the prestigious 2019 Kidlat Awards, an annual creative competition celebrating the country’s most creative advertising work of the past year.

Organized by the 4As Philippines’ Creative Guild, the Kidlat Awards cited BDO for its creative digital campaign highlighting overseas Filipinos finding ways to provide for their families back home—even if it means doing unconventional jobs abroad.

The campaign, launched last year by BDO’s remittance service brand BDO Remit, featured videos of real stories of Filipinos abroad engaged in some of the most uncommon jobs: a father working in Europe as a celebrated drag performer (titled “Europe”); a young woman working in Japan as a lonely death cleaner or Tokushu Seiso (“Japan”); and a father working as a cross-border driver in the Middle East (“Middle East”).

According to BDO Remittance Head Geneva T. Gloria, the three videos depict what BDO is all about: finding ways to meet the needs of its clients, wherever they may be.

“Through BDO Remit and BDO Kabayan Savings Account, BDO ensures that overseas Filipinos’ hard-earned money reaches their families back in the Philippines, because ‘Together, We Find Ways,” she said.

BDO availed the services of creative agency Hemisphere-Leo Burnett and production house Film Pabrika in making the videos.

The videos were well received by netizens, as seen by the positive sentiments they shared on BDO Kabayan Facebook page. Each video now has millions of views on BDO’s YouTube channel.

BDO won a total of 10 awards, including Gold in Best Production Design for the “Japan” video, besting other notable entries across all industries.

BDO Remit enjoys its presence in Asia via six remittance offices located in Hong Kong, Macau and the newly-opened office in Japan; three representative offices in Singapore, Taiwan and Korea; and a full branch in Hong Kong. In the Middle East, BDO Remit has one representative office in the United Arab Emirates and two remittance offices in North America particularly in California, USA. In Europe, BDO Remit has presence in the United Kingdom, Austria, France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, and Germany with a total of 12 remittance offices in the said countries; and one representative office in France.

Overseas Filipinos and their beneficiaries may open a BDO Kabayan Savings Account at any BDO branch in the Philippines with an initial deposit of only Php100 (for a Philippine peso account) or $100 (for US dollar account). The BDO Kabayan Savings Account also has zero maintaining balance provided there is at least one remittance transaction made within the last two years. If there’s no remittance within two years, the BDO Kabayan Savings will automatically convert to a regular ATM savings with a maintaining balance requirement of Php 2,000.

Seafarers employed by shipping companies accredited by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration may also open a BDO Kabayan Shipping Dollar Account where they can directly credit their allotment, with an initial deposit of only $10.