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The Credit Card Association of the Philippines
(CCAP) is a professional organization of fourteen (14) member
banks which aims to promote wider ownership and acceptance
of credit cards as a major payment instrument in order to
enhance the consumer spending power; thereby, contributing
to the economic development of the country.
A Brief History
On October 7, 1980, a group of representatives
from Bank of America, Diners Club, Equitable
Bank, PCI Bank, Pacific Card and Manila Banking Corporation
met at the El Comedor Restaurant in Ermita, Manila to discuss
the formal creation of an association among the members
of the industry. They decided to name the association the
Credit Card Association of the Philippines (CCAP). The group's
objective was to achieve mutual cooperation by fostering
stronger and more active fellowship among competing credit
card companies.
Shortly after, CCAP's incorporation papers were submitted
to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the CCAP was
incorporated on January 6, 1981.
The first set of CCAP officers were Antonio
Pahati, President; Reodino Crescini, Vice President; Celso
Dayrit, Treasurer, and Cynthia Valenzuela, Secretary.
Since then, the organization has grown
to include Bankard, RCBC/JCB, Unicard, BPI Card Corporation,
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Far East Card
and Citibank. The 1990s saw the entry of PNB Card, City
Trust, Jardine Finance, MBf Card, Solid Bank, Standard Chartered,
AIG Philam Bank. In 2000, Union Bank and United Oversees
Bank joined the Association. Banco de Oro became a member
in 2002, followed by East West Bank a year later. The newest
member is Allied Banking Corporation which joined November
2007.
The mergers in the banking industry resulted
in the present composition of CCAP, which is now made up
of 14 of the leading credit card issuers.
Organizational Structure
The present officers of CCAP are: Alex Ilagan,
Chairman; Claire Ann Yap, President; Jenny Lacerna, First
Vice President; Aniceta Del Mundo, Second Vice President;
John Santos, Secretary; Belen Lim, Treasurer; and, Elizabeth
L. Legarda, Executive Director.
The Board of Directors is composed of Fulgencio Rana (Allied
Banking Corporation); Juanita O. Umali (AIG Philam Savings Bank); Oscar
B. Biason (Bankard,Inc.); Ophelia Camina (Banco de Oro);
Aniceta P. Del Mundo (Bank of the Philippine Islands); Alma
Gruenberg (Citibank, N.A.); Alex G. Ilagan (East West Banking
Corp.); Claire Ann T. Yap (The Hongkong Shanghai Banking
Corporation, Ltd.); John Santos (Metrobank Card Corp.);
Arcatomy Guarin (One Card); Jovencio D. Hernandez (Philippine
National Bank); Belen Lim (SB Cards Corporation); Supretim
Pandey (Standard Chartered Bank); and, Manuel G. Santiago,
Jr. (Union Bank of the Philippines).
Goals
The goals of CCAP are:
1. To initiate measures for the protection of the cardholders
and merchants;
2. To promote the responsible use and acceptance of credit
cards in the local, global, and e-
commerce settings;
3. To make credit cards available to those who need and
qualify for credit;
4. To continue to educate cardholders to get the best value
from their credits cards while instilling credit
discipline; and,
5. To foster stronger and more active fellowship among members
in pursuing common interests.
To achieve these goals, CCAP engages itself
in cooperative and collaborative efforts with other institutions
such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Bureau of Internal Revenue
(BIR), Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) and
other law enforcement agencies.
Key Achievements
One of the key achievements of CCAP is the sponsorship
of Republic Act No. 8484 or the Access Device Regularization
Act, for fraud protection and control, passed by Congress
in 1998. The law gave credit card companies and relevant
government agencies more legal ammunition in their battle
against fraud. CCAP conducted extensive merchant education,
law enforcement education and timely information sharing
and dissemination of latest security trends among member
banks.
In 2003, CCAP worked closely with the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in the formulation of Circular
398 which governs the credit card operations of banks and
subsidiary credit card companies. This circular was implemented
on August 21, 2003.
In October 2006, RA 8484 was further strengthened
by Executive Order No. 573 which directed the Department
of Justice to create an anti-fraud task force in order to
support the drive against credit card fraud and other fraudulent
practices.
Also in October 2006, CCAP organized a
convention with the theme "Trends and Opportunities
for the Credit Card Industry." The event was held in
the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel, and was attended by more than
250 representatives from its then 15 member banks, industry
partners and notable guests from both the private and government
sectors.
CCAP prides itself for having hosted The
Southeast Asia Cross Border Security Meeting for 2008. It
was held on February 28 to March 1, 2008 at Shangri-La's
Mactan Resort and Spa in Cebu, Philippines. The event came
out to be highly acclaimed among sponsors and foreign and
local delegates alike due to the interesting and note-worthy
topics and new products presented.
CCAP is currently a contributor to the
Bankers Association of the Philippines' negative file information
system (BAP NFIS) which is used extensively by most major
financial institutions to assess the risk profile of potential
or new customers in the absence of a national credit bureau.
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