It’s not only entrepreneurs who have been struggling through the pandemic—schools have also been doing their best to survive and continue operations for the sake of students and teachers. One example of how a school has heroically met the challenge of the pandemic is Manuel S. Enverga University (MSEUF) in Lucena, Quezon Province.

Founded in 1947, the university has provided many generations the hope of learning and a brighter future. When the pandemic struck, the university had to adjust its administrative operations in order to assure the safety of its teachers and students while continuing to provide quality education. 

MSEUF had to shift to a combination of online learning and asynchronous modular learning for their students, as the community quarantine prohibited face-to-face classes.

The school also had to adjust its administrative processes to allow most staff to work from home. This meant shifting to an online platform to process vital transactions such as disbursement and collection of payments, including tuition. For this, the university sought help from its bank, BDO. 

“One big solution BDO provided is their SME Online Banking facility. Before, we had to manually check with parents the name of student and amount paid for us to be able to monitor their payments. We had to update passbooks everyday to make sure we monitored the payments properly,” said Carl Rodriguez, head of the university’s Treasury Office. 

“Furthermore, BDO SME Online Banking gave parents more options for payments.  They could pay through BDO online channels, Mobile Banking or Online Banking, simply by transferring money from their BDO account to our BDO account. They also have the option to pay at any BDO branch in Lucena or other areas. All of these made operations easier for us despite the pandemic. It also proved to be the most efficient as many parents are also BDO accountholders” 

Apart from collection of tuition fees, the university also processes its employee payroll with the help of BDO. “BDO was processing our payroll even during the lockdown when it was so hard to go from place to place because of travel restrictions. They found ways to keep our payroll process running smoothly without disruptions,” Rodriguez said. 

MSEUF is able to operate despite the challenges of the pandemic through the dedication and strategic thinking of its university officials, and with the help of its banking partner as well.  For more information on BDO’s Cash Management System, call (632) 88407500; email cms-sme@bdo.com.ph; or visit www.bdo.com.ph.