[02 January 2014] With smartphone adoption and Internet usage continuously rising in the Philippines, digital financial services are now starting to take off as more and more Pinoys are discovering the convenience and going digital, mobile and cashless.

Smart digital financial services subsidiary Smart eMoney, Inc. (SMI) recently introduced MePay, 

a breakthrough electronic and mobile payments platform that only requires any Philippine mobile number 

upon sign-in. It is initially available for digital payments with online shopping site Zalora.

With smartphone adoption and Internet usage continuously rising in the Philippines, digital financial services are now starting to take off as more and more Pinoys are discovering the convenience and going digital, mobile and cashless.

"Last year was a good year for digital financial services.Consumers are now driving the e-Money conversation. With eCommerce becoming more and more mainstream, we are actively listening to the customers for solutions they need and want. E-cash is now king,” said Benjie S. Fernandez, chief operating officer at Smart eMoney, Inc. (SMI), the digital financial services arm of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart).

While usage and revenues for Smart Money and Smart Money Padala continue to grow, the opportunity to introduce more innovative services tailored to specific customer needs remains huge. Fernandez shares some digital financial services trends to watch out for.

More financially inclusive digital services

“The latest data from the World Bank cites that over 70% of the Filipinos are unbanked. Meanwhile, credit card ownership is still at just around 4%. Rather than see this as a barrier, we should see this as potential for growth," said Fernandez.

To address this, SMI has been rolling out financially inclusive services such as MePay, a breakthrough electronic and mobile payments platform that only requires any Philippine mobile number upon sign-in.

Initially available for use with merchants such as online shopping site Zalora and more sites coming such as Philippine Airlines by the first quarter of 2015, MePay is enabling customers even without credit cards to participate in the digital economy. Right now, users can top-up their accounts through direct transfers from Smart Money or through any of the 30,000 Smart Money Padala centers nationwide. SMI is expected to further expand the number of online merchants, funding sources and payment features as it also bring the number of Smart Money Padala centers even down to neighbourhood retail store levels.

eCommerce for All

When Multiply.com closed out in 2012, many online sellers shifted to social media sites and other eCommerce listing sites. While innovations such as Smart Money and MePay are seen to further address the digital payment aspect, services such as TackThis! are now empowering shop owners to quickly build up their online presence. Powered by Smart and its subsidiary Voyager Innovations, Inc. (Voyager), TackThis! allows any merchant an easy way to create a fully featured e-Commerce store. Anyone can now start selling online by simply "tacking" on or embedding their online stores in blogs, mobile sites and even on their Facebook pages in just a few easy steps.

Meanwhile, online market places such as Takatack, are bringing together the best of Pinoy eCommerce in just one site, further making online shopping convenient and exciting for consumers and profitable for sellers. “Imagine browsing through thousands of goods from different eCommerce sites like Zalora, Pormada, Sesura, Taste Central and numerous online TackThis! sellers in just one place.” said Fernandez.

Expanding access to banking services

In 2013, SMI together with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) introduced the LANDBANK Mobile Loan Saver (LMLS) program, a fast, safe and convenient platform for government employees to process loans and build their savings with the aid of their mobile phones.

Touted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as "country's first-ever fully electronic and paperless salary loan service,” LMLS enables qualified government employees with LANDBANK ATM payroll accounts to apply for loans by simply sending a text message through their Smart, Sun Cellular or Talk 'N Text mobile phones.

“To date, the program has processed almost half a billion pesos loan portfolio in less than four months deployment. At the same time, it is helping build a culture of financial savings among participants. We will see further expansion of services like LMLS to cater to various segments of the population." said Fernandez.

Putting security and convenience first

On the other end of the digital financial spectrum, card holders can now enjoy the convenience of mobile payments with just a tap from their phones with Charge2Phone (C2P), the country's first Near Field Communications (NFC) sticker-based payment product that can be used wherever Visa payWave is accepted globally and in the Philippines including merchants such as Mercury Drug, McDonalds, Marketplace by Rustan's, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Eastwood Cinemas and Shell Select.

Launched with Citi Philippines and supported by Visa, C2P can be availed of by Smart and Sun postpaid subscribers via a separate Citi credit line on top of their post-paid plan. For online payments, C2P enables customers to use their mobile number for transactions instead of their 16-digit card number.

Meanwhile, card holders will soon be able to enjoy an added security layer with LockByMobile, a mobile based, anti-fraud security service that will be offered by partner banks and financial institutions. LockByMobile enables card users to "lock" and "unlock their ATM, prepaid, debit and credit cards directly from their phones. The service is designed to fight cases of fraud involving card transactions. It also has a built-in anti-fraud alert mechanism with real-time notifications via mobile.

“We’re very excited to see digital financial services to not only achieve breakthroughs but to actually gain foothold this new year. The unifying element in all these trends is the value added in terms of accessibility, convenience and security for everyone. In the end, customer acceptance and adoption are key.” concluded Fernandez.

 

 

 

2 Jan 2015