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SUNDAY, JULY 9, 2017
Business
Ray S. Eñano, Editor / Roderick dela Cruz, Issue Editor business@manilastandard.net
FILIPINOS STILL SHUN MOBILE BANKING
Unisys Asia Pacific financial solutions director Ian Selbie
BUILDER
KEA Industrial Corp. vice president Edmund Araga
CAVITE FAMILY BUILDS VEHICLES
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By Othel V. Campos
A
family in Cavite province, which has been supplying metal parts and components to major Japanese brands, is now building its own vehicles—electric tricycles that are considered the future of public transportation. KEA Industrial Corp., the company established by the late Edgardo Araga, is now being managed by his children—Katherine, Elvin and Edmund Araga, who represent the initials of the company. KEA has more than 30 years of experience as a metal fabricator that supplies parts and components to car assemblers Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda Cars, Isuzu and Nissan as well as Yamaha and Honda motorcycles. Egardo established KEA in 1991 in Navotas City, but transferred the operation to Bacoor, Cavite in 2000. The Araga children took on the challenge of sustaining the business after their father passed away last year. Eldest daughter Katherine manages the administrative side of the business, while Elvin, the middle child, is the company president. Edmund, the youngest son, serves as the vice president for manufacturing and operations. “Decision-making is always the most difficult especially if you are working with family. It was easier when Dad was alive. He weighed things, balanced them out and came up with a decision that is the best for the company and family,” Edmund says. Edmund wants to fulfill his father’s dream of becoming known as an electric vehicle builder. “My Dad, before he died, told me to continue the e-trike business so the trikes these days will have a definite direction. He wanted to his e-trike to be known worldwide. We did researches on trends and decided on the e-trike. But we cannot afford
the cost of production. So we sought assistance from the Board of Investments and applied under a pioneer status. We’re very thankful that our application was approved in 2012,” Edmund says. In 2015, KEA started manufacturing e-trikes that are similar to the “tuktuks” of Thailand or conventional three-wheel trikes with the main load located at the rear. The company has built 60 units so far, with ten units owned and operated by KEA itself, plying the stretch of Bacoor Boulevard up to the city hall. The ten units run on lithium-ion batteries which are more expensive than the lead acid batteries it used for the first batch of 50 units. These lithium-ion batteries are based on a “payper-use” agreement with Talino EV, an electric vehicle battery developer. Compared to lead acid that runs 40 to 60 kilometers per full charging, lithium-ion can last up to 100 kilometers when fully charged. It also charges faster. Five charging stations were put up near and along the boulevard where drivers of the e-trikes have easy access to charging or tapping-up charge. The company donated a charging station near the city hall to the city government as a rendition of corporate service responsibility. Living up to the wishes of his father, Edmund says KEA e-trike has recently drawn the interest of a French client and an official of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration who was on a visit to the Philippines. Visitors from Asean countries also complimented KEA’s design and its success with the local condition. Edmund, however, says the hardest challenge with e-trike is letting people know and understand the technology. “The biggest problem is educating people. We noticed the resistance from the conventional to the new technology. Pricing could be one of the deciding factors for this. There is no bank yet that is open to financing e-trikes. It is a hurdle that should be addressed as soon as possible. Of all the e-trikes we sold, those are upfront purchases,” he says.
“This is the reason why we continue to lobby for incentives for the e-vehicle industry,” Edmund says. The government has recently agreed to exempt all e-vehicles from taxes and provide other peripheral perks. However, the local e-vehicle sector considers these as token incentives, below what similar industries are getting from their own governments. “But we are thankful for the assistance. This is now a good start for us,” says Edmund. After considering the prohibitive price of owning an e-trike, KEA came up with a smaller e-trike variant where the load is parallel to the motorbike. Its design is the same as most tricycles. Araga says the plan is to design new models that will fit the lifestyle or the type of business of the owners. He says local government units and subdivisions are supportive of the advocacy to replace about 2 million conventional tricyles with e-trikes. “We now have proof of concept, that this technology really works. It’s sustainable enough for short distances but we can work our way from there. Of the 2 million tricycles, we’re happy enough to be able to replace 30 percent,” says Edmund. “Our capacity is not that much at the moment. But if demand goes up, we are prepared to take on the challenge. We have a property in Silang, Cavite that we bought for exactly the reason of expanding our e-trike manufacturing. We are willing to up the stakes and get more automation when needed,” he says. Right now, e-trike manufacturing shares the company’s metal fabrication facility in Bacoor, Cavite with 111 employees. Married with three kids, Edmund is an avid runner who joins marathons regularly. He is also an occasional golfer and a regular grocery guy. “This is my bonding time with my son. I enjoy doing these menial job for my family as I enjoyed doing it with my mom when I was younger. There’s no bigger joy than to serve your family as I serve mine and the company Dad has built for us—his family,” says Edmund.
CAN GEEKS IN PALAWAN OFFER FIXES TO ENVIRONMENT? THE Department of Information and Communication Technology and private stakeholders of the premier annual tech conference in the Philippines seek to harness the startup community in helping fix the country’s environmental problems. “Aside from gathering tech entrepreneurs and professionals as we have done in previous Geeks on a Beach, we hope serial entrepreneurs, FilipinoAmericans from Silicon Valley, will provide more heft to the event,” said Tina Amper of TechTalks.ph. “Yobie Benjamin, among others, had invested in a startup that protects wild-
life in Kenya and mangrove forests in Brazil and earning the carbon credits in the process. You have to listen to how he does it,” said Amper who is now organizing the fifth Geeks on a Beach or GOAB. Yobie was awarded 2015 Technology Pioneer of the World Economic Forum and is an alumnus of the University of the Philippines. The strong and promising potential for the Philippines to be a location for tech start-ups is “tremendous” because of the talent pool, GlycoProX and Veem co-founder Aldo Carrascoso said. GlycoProX is on the verge of devel-
oping a computation plus instrumentation-based cure for breast cancer. Its co-founders, including Fil-Am Carrascoso, have proven track record of success with value creation of half a billion U.S. dollars. Palawan boasts of global environmental wonders like the underground river, the Tubbataha reef and world class beaches. As such, GOAB will tackle the theme of “Environment and Technology”, and it will also have tracks on “Startups in the Region”, “Creatives for the Future” and “Tech for Challenging the World”, said David Overton, CEO of
Sym.ph and chief GOAB Geek. GOAB will happen on Aug. 24 to 25, 2017 in Puerto Princesa City in Palawan. “We also hope to push DICT projects that we launched recently. These projects like Pipol Konek National Free Wifi Program, the National Government Portal, and the National Broadband Project are designed to give birth to digital Filipinos,” said Undersecretary Mon Ibrahim. PLDT, Smart, Voyager, PayMaya, ePLDT, Smart DevNet, PLDT Enterprise, and PLDT Innolab are supporting GOAB as co-presenters while A Space is coproducer.
By Kristin Mae Cortez and Aletha Jasmine Dela Cruz U NYS I S, a global information technology company, hopes to help accelerate mobile banking adoption in Asia Pacific, despite the results of the Unisys APAC Banking Insights Survey which shows most consumers still prefer face-to-face bank transactions. The Philippines has the highest preference for visiting the branch, based on data by research firm OmniPoll, where 1,000 people from the Philippines, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan were surveyed. “We asked this [preference] because we are interested in the bank customer experience when it comes to fraud protection. Some of the observations surprised us a little,” Unisys Asia Pacific financial solutions director Ian Selbie said in a briefing at Makati Shangri La Hotel. The balance of security and convenience on the costumer experience was also examined. Based on the survey, 51 percent of the respondents said they would feel frustrated by the inconvenience if the bank would block their credit card because of suspected fraudulent transactions even though they are genuine. Even so, they are glad that employees take legal actions to protect them. The findings suggest that banks need to improve their service to accurately detect fraud cases and to prevent inconvenience and losses from the customers. Moreover, two well-known banks were involved in a fraud case which was later commented by Selbie “I don’t think that was fraud. [It must be an] incorrect perception,” he said. Selbie said Unisys aims to improve bank service for better customer service through technology. He does “not expect the branches to go away. They will still play a key role.” Richard Parker, vice president for financial services of Unisys Asia Pacific, said while banks in the Philippines offer a range of digital channels, “they do not yet provide a compelling enough experience for customers to replace visiting the branch.” “This is typical for other emerging markets such as Malaysia and Taiwan and means that the branch remains an important channel within an ever-evolving omichannel strategy,” Parker said. Unisys contributes in providing industr y-focused solutions integrated with leading-edge security to clients in the government, financial services and commercial markets. “ Through the years, Unisys has provided services that the Philippines is actually using. One of the largest banks in the Philippines is using check-processing,” said Selbie.