Smart, Sun Life enable local coops through financial wellness, digital literacy

Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) teams up with Sun Life Philippines to integrate courses on financial wellness to the ‘Smart Coops’ program, a digital literacy training for cooperatives nationwide.

Clockwise from top left: Smart FVP For Corporate Marketing and Strategy Lloyd Manaloto, FVP and Group Head of Smart Go-To Market and Subscriber Management Melvin Nubla, PLDT FVP and Head for Group Corporate Communications Cathy Yang, Sun Life Philippines Country Head and CEO Benedict Sison, and Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. President Alex Narciso.

During these interactive workshops, Smart will be teaching its 83 partner-coops how to communicate digitally, market their products online, negotiate through e-commerce, and engage with consumers in the new normal.

With Sun Life, the coops will also learn how to effectively manage their assets through financial wellness seminars. Sun Life will also be offering affordable insurance packages to the participating coops, depending on their qualifications.

This collaboration was formalized via a virtual signing ceremony, which was attended by FVP and Group Head of Smart Go-To Market and Subscriber Management Melvin Nubla, FVP For Corporate Marketing and Strategy Lloyd Manaloto, Sun Life Philippines Country Head and CEO Benedict Sison, and Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. President Alex Narciso.

“The cooperatives are an important part of our economy, and similar to other institutions, they were also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this, we are supporting them further by partnering with other companies to help provide other relevant products to them. Hence, we are teaming up with other institutions like Sun Life, who have the same endeavor of helping cooperatives.  This is also to help Smart reach more cooperatives through their existing cooperative partners,” Nubla said.

Under the program, Smart will continue to provide free SIMs with load, access to the Smart Infocast platform to help coops disseminate information among their members, Smart Bro and Prepaid Home WiFi kits to support work-from-home and online learning, and a Retailer Program that would provide them additional earning opportunity.

“With Sun Life, on top of teaching the basics of digital, social media and e-commerce, we will also be teaching financial literacy skills that are important in building pandemic-resilient businesses,” Manaloto said.

“During the pandemic, both financial security and mobile technology became more relevant than ever, as it brought Filipinos a sense of security amid all the challenges. Our collaboration will empower Filipino cooperatives as we provide them the best of what both our companies can offer,” Sison said.

“Being financially literate enables us to make smart financial decisions. As leaders in the digital and financial services industries, we are in the best position to help our kababayans to become well-versed in these areas,” Narciso said.

For other companies interested to partner with Smart and further support the cooperatives, they can get in touch with Smart through Community Partnerships: communitypartnerships@smart.com.ph