By Edd K. Usman
On Wednesday, May 18, Pera Hub emerged as a new brand name for PetNet, which has been cited as “the country’s foremost urgent transaction center.”
PetNet has been doing business in the country as a financial services company for 17 years as Western Union’s largest agent network in the Philippines.
Pera Hub’s services include Pera Remit, Pera Loan, Pera Palit, Pera Travel, Pera Pay, Pera Protect, and Pera Load.
Much has been happening at the company that, obviously, prompted the change. For one, a statement given to journalists pointed out that Aboitz Equity Ventures has acquired majority ownership of PetNet in mid-2015.
“Last year saw a lot of changes and development for our company,” PetNet president Lorenzo T. Ocampo. “Aboitiz is a supportive and strong majority owner and partner, which provided a lot of opportunities for PetNet to grow further. Re-branding is another part of that journey.”
He described Aboitiz as a “big brother.” “It feels great to have a ‘big brother’ equipped with expertise and network that will lead to PetNet’s next level,” said Ocampo.
With him at the unveiling, among others, were Susan Valdez, chief corporate services officer of Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Jeffrey Navarro, business development director for Southeast Asia and Oceania of Western Union.
He explained that the change of brand name is aimed at communicating the nature of PetNet’s services to better provide services to its growing market.
“For 17 years PetNet opened its doors to people from all walks of life. Today, the Pera Hub brand signifies our competitive edge of being a one-stop shop for our customers’ financial service requirements and strengthens our commitment to our corporate values of integrity, teamwork, innovation, responsibility and friendliness,” Ocampo said.
The company has started rolling out Pera Hub’s re-branding in the first quarter of 2016, covering all its 2,100 locations. The rollout is expected to be completed by July 2016.
While sporting a new retail brand name, specifically Pera Hub, the company’s legal name will remain as PetNet. It is, today, the biggest agent network of Western Union in the Philippines.
“Over the years, PetNet’s business has grown from offering remittance services through Western Union to being a money changing, bills payment, mobile loading, micro-insurance and loan application center,” said Ocampo.
