BDO, Amex bring Shop Small to Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — BDO Unibank Inc. and American Express are bringing the global Shop Small movement to the Philippines to help local businesses severely affected by the pandemic.

Ma. Nannette Regala, senior vice president and consumer banking marketing head at BDO, said Shop Small is one of the ways the bank could support local businesses in the country.

“With this initiative, we’re encouraging Filipino shoppers to do their share and help small and medium enterprises bounce back. Every spend can help make a difference,” Regala said.

Shop Small is a movement founded by American Express to ignite passion for small and local businesses, call attention to the valuable contributions they make to their communities and the economy and encourage shoppers to support them.

Sanjiv Malhotra, vice president and general manager for global network services in South East Asia and South Pacific at American Express, said the partnership with BDO would help bring Shop Small to the Philippines and lend its support to local businesses.

“They are such an important part of our lives, and they have been particularly affected by the pandemic.  We want to play our part to support them and we hope our Shop Small movement encourages everyone to support their local businesses,” Malhotra said.

To encourage shoppers to show their love for local businesses, BDO and American Express are launching a special Shop Small offer of 5x Rewards* for purchases made at participating Shop Small merchants using BDO-issued American Express cards until June 30 this year.

With over 1,000 merchant locations, ranging from retail shops, restaurants and specialty stores, reward points earned can be used to redeem a reward of choice from a selection of gift certificates, gadgets, appliance, air miles and more.

The concept that was started in the US in 2010 has been introduced in countries around the world including Singapore, Australia, India, Japan and the UK.