Paying with your ATM card at point-of-sale

MANILA, Philippines - Don’t have enough cash? A convenient and actually, safer way for you to pay for your shopping or meals out is through your BancNet ATM card.

Without needing to withdraw your cash, you don’t run the risk of being robbed by someone who’s seen you at the ATM machine nor would you need to go around the mall to look for an ATM machine first before you get to enjoy a nice meal with friends or family.

With its list of partner merchants growing by the minute (BancNet currently has 12,459 payment terminals), BancNet continues to provide its subscribers more convenient payment options while enabling partner establishments to enjoy better business. Two establishments that have recently been added to BancNet’s list of partner merchants include foodie favorite Mom and Tina’s and specialty store Olympic Village. 

Mom and Tina’s

Had a rough day? Treat yourself to some good ol’ comfort food at this family-run bakery/restaurant.

Step inside Mom and Tina’s and you’ll find a cozy restaurant filled with plush couches, various knick knacks, basically all things reminiscent of a relaxed country home. According to Miguel Esguerra, manager of Mom and Tina’s, everything started as just a hobby for his grandmother and aunt who both had a knack for making things. His grandmother enjoyed making Christmas crafts while his aunt, Tina, always had the gift for coming up with the most mouthwatering pastries.

It was only after much prodding from friends and family members that the enterprising duo finally decided to open a small takeout counter in Pasig. From there they started selling cupcakes, pastry squares, cookies as well as a gift shop that had an assortment of decorative items.

As business started to pick up, they soon looked for a bigger place (but still in Pasig) in order to cater to more customers as well as expand their menu offerings from just baked goods to delectable meals. Miguel shares that the food that they serve at Mom and Tina’s is actually “an extension” of their own kitchen. Each and every item on the menu is either a family recipe or favorites that they usually have during their family gatherings.

At Mom and Tina’s Miguel says that they prefer to keep things simple – comfortable dining settings, affordable price points (expect to shell out only P150 per head), and hearty meals; because the focus after all, should always be great food.

 In spite of being a favorite among the neighboring villages as well as the local foodie community, it took years for Mom and Tina to open a new branch, this time in Makati where they quickly gained a warm reception from the busy working crowd. A good example of that is during lunchtime when Mom and Tina’s easily gets packed with diners eager to have their fill of yummy comfort food.

When asked about the restaurant’s bestsellers, Miguel suggests that first timers should try the U.S. Beef Tapa, Paella Valenciana, Chicken Spinach Lasagna, and their selection of roasts before capping off the meal with either of the following desserts: Toblerone Walnut Torte, Chocolate Fudge, cookies, and pastry squares. Of course, with a menu filled with 150 food options there’s always something new to excite one’s taste buds at Mom and Tina’s. 

And with more and more dessert lovers and foodies flocking over to enjoy what Mom and Tina’s has to offer, it’s actually quite timely that the restaurant has started offering the POS system as a payment option at both branches early this year.

This system works well especially for their Pasig branch given its location, customers who are short of cash need not worry about looking for an ATM just to have a meal at Mom and Tina’s. “We were approached by Chinatrust to offer auto debit as an alternative way of payment. It’s very convenient for our customers as well as for us as are able to serve our customers better. It was also very easy to install and the service fees are very affordable even for a restaurant like ours,” shares Miguel.

Mom and Tina’s is located at 106 E. Rodriguez Ave., Pasig City and at Tropical Palms Condominium, 103 Dela Rosa cor. Perea Sts., Legaspi Village, Makati City.

Olympic Village

Looking for a new pair of running shoes? What about gym equipment for your home? For nearly two decades, Olympic Village has been providing Filipinos with a wide variety of athletic and leisure brands that complements any busy lifestyle as well as help encourage people to stay fit and active.

Predominantly a footwear shop, Olympic Village started out small with less than 10 to 20 brands at its Park Square branch. Given that the two owners are very much into sports, they already have a good idea about which brands to bring in to the country – brands that are of good value for money as well as stylish. As the Olympic Village name became more recognized, the owners decided on expanding the brand by putting up sister stores of Olympic Village namely: Olympic World, Olympic Gold, Olympic Outlet and Hall of Fame.

According to Josefina Malabonga, retail operations manager of the Olympic Village Group, while all five stores offer sporting goods, fitness equipment and athletic gear, they made sure that each store still has something distinct that will set it apart from the rest.

Aside from Olympic Village, there’s Olympic World which houses the more high end brands. Olympic Outlet as the name suggests, is the place to be for those who are on a budget. As Olympic Village’s outlet store, it offers a great selection of marked down items. Hall of Fame meanwhile, used to be a specialty store of sorts with a mini museum inside. However, due to the growing demand from customers they had to redesign the store to have a bigger selling space.

Currently with 18 stores nationwide, Josefina is proud to add that all these are company owned in spite of getting a lot of offers from interested franchisees. Instead of pushing for rapid expansion, she says that their company is more interested in strengthening their customer base.

Compared to other specialty stores in their field, she thinks that what actually sets them apart is that they always go the extra mile for their customers. Along with the great selection of products, customers can also look forward to the great after-sales service that is being provided at each branch.

Now, Josefina lists BancNet’s debit payment as an added service that Olympic Village customers can enjoy. She recounts the time when they first introduced the BancNet payment option during last year’s holiday season. “We started offering it in end-2009 which was the height of the holiday sales. Our customers were pleased with the system which of course translated to better sales for us. If the customer doesn’t have enough cash, he/she can now easily pay for their purchases through their Bancnet ATM card.” She adds, “Since not everyone has a credit card, the BancNet system has proven to be very advantageous for us and so far none of our 18 stores have experienced any glitches with the new system.”

Olympic Village is located at Ayala Center Cebu, Gateway, Market! Market!, Robinsons Place Bacolod, Robinsons Place Dasmarinas, Robinsons Place Imus, Robinsons Place Lipa, Robinsons Place Manila, Robinsons Starmills Pampanga, SM North EDSA, Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, and SM Megamall.