Ignacio R. Bunye SPEAKING OUT Banks have not been remiss in  reminding clients to safeguard their personal information especially PINs and  passwords. But somehow scammers are still able to dupe bank clients into revealing these sensitive info. One usual ploy is by sending an email or SMS notice to the unsuspecting client that the client’s account has been deactivated. To reactivate the account, the client has to sign in again. In the process, the sensitive information is accidentally shared. I have often been approached by victims, hoping that their losses arising from scams be mitigated. Unfortunately the hands of the bank are tied in cases where negligence was the proximate cause of the loss and the hoax is not of the bank’s doing. Cardholders should also be very careful with their credit cards. These cards should be handled as if they were cash. Unless the card has previously been reported as lost, an unscrupulous person can simply present a stolen card for payment. Believe me, the cashier on the other end, does not even check if the physical description of the presenter matches that of the card holder. I once mistakenly presented my wife’s extension credit card for payment of a restaurant bill. As soon as the card cleared, my wife’s card was automatically debited. Gigi Montinola is MAP president for 2021  Congratulations to Aurelio “Gigi” Montinola III who was recently elected president of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) for 2021. Montinola is the chair of the Far Eastern University (FEU), Amon Trading, and Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, among many others. He is a former president of the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), former president of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), where he is a current member of the board. Montinola was awarded the 2005 and 2010 Asian Banker Leadership Award for the Philippines, and the 2012 MAP Management Man of the Year, respectively. Another fellow BPI director elected as MAP officer is Romeo Bernardo, managing director of Lazaro Bernardo Tiu & Associates. Filinvest launches first official crowdfunding platform Crowdfunding is officially here. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently allowed Investree Philippines  to operate a crowdfunding platform that would connect small, medium, and emerging enterprises with banks and other lenders. Investree Philippines Inc., is  a joint venture of Filinvest Development Corp. and Investree Singapore Pte. Ltd. The SEC said the registration of Investree Philippines as crowdfunding intermediary and funding portal would be valid for one year, subject to a review by the SEC of the actual operation of the crowd-funding portal in the first 11 months for possible extension. Wikipedia defines crowdfunding as the practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. This modern crowdfunding model is generally based on three types of actors – the project initiator who proposes the idea or project to be funded, individuals or groups who support the idea, and a moderating organization (the "platform") that brings the parties together to launch the idea.Wikipedia adds that crowdfunding has been used to fund a wide range of for-profit entrepreneurial ventures,  such as artistic and creative projects, medical expenses, travel, and community-oriented social entrepreneurship projects. Note: You may wish to share the foregoing via Facebook, Twitter and/or Linked-In.