RBAP-MABS, together with the Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation, Inc. (RBRDFI) and Globe’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Globe X-Change Inc. (GXI) will be holding a one-day Mobile Phone Banking Accreditation Training on August 6, 2010 at the Cebu City Mariott Hotel (Cardinal Rosales Avenue, Cebu City). This training is open to Visayas and Mindanao rural banks.
Mobile Phone Banking Training for rural banks – Cebu City -August 06, 2010
July 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Making Microfinance Mobile
July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
CGAP - Mobile banking services are beginning to revolutionize the way people in developing countries manage their money, creating opportunities for microfinance institutions to substantially improve their services. Although widespread m-banking services are currently only present in a few countries, a new CGAP Focus Note, Microfinance and Mobile Banking: The Story So Far shows how microfinance institutions (MFIs) can link into existing m-banking services to make it more convenient and cost-effective for customers to borrow and repay loans. Still, for those MFIs located in countries without an existing m-banking service, most will find it too expensive, time-consuming, and complex to develop a service on their own.
The study, which examines the intersection of mobile banking and microfinance in countries both with and without existing m-banking services (Bolivia, Cambodia, Kenya, Malawi, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tanzania, and the Philippines), found that giving customers the flexibility to make loan payments and deposits using their mobile phones typically shortens group meetings and decreases cases of theft and fraud.
Mobile payment users seen to reach 109 million
July 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Philippine Star – Mobile payment users worldwide are forecast to increase 2.1 percent to 109 million by the end of 2010, a US-based research firm said in a report.
Gartner Research said total mobile payment transactions will total nearly 4.5 billion in 2012, up from just 125 million in 2007, growing at an annual compounded rate of 105 percent.
In the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) estimates that there are at least eight million Filipinos using mobile phones to make bills payments and other banking related activities.
According to Gartner Research, mobile payment users in the Asia and Pacific region will surpass 62.8 million in 2010 and represent 2.6 percent of all mobile users in the region.
In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, mobile payment users will total 27.1 while in North America, mobile payment users will number 3.5 million and represent 1.1 percent of all mobile users in the region.
BSP not likely to put cap on mobile banking fee
July 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Malaya Business Insight – Even as more and more Filipinos are using services available at their fingertips through cellular phones, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) deputy governor Nestor Espenilla said he is not keen on imposing more regulations, especially a cap on service charges, on mobile banking.
“We don’t want to regulate and impose a price cap. Rather than a price cap, let competition come in,” Espenilla said.
Espenilla said mobile banking is an ideal solution for a country like the Philippines.
“Text savvy ang mga Filipinos and many are still un-banked,” Espenilla said.
Espenilla said mobile banking has turned into a competition, not only among the top telecom providers but also among banks and other firms engaged in money transfer.
He said because of the increasing numbers of people using mobile banking for their money transfer needs, some courier services are lowering their fees.
“That’s how competition is shaping. And the Filipino consumers are evidently the winners here,” Espenilla said.
The central bank earlier said there are now eight million Filipinos using mobile banking services offered by telecom providers, boosting financial services to the un-banked in the countryside.
Read the complete article on Malaya Business Insight
Also read: Stiff competition lowers remittance fees by 35% – BSP
Delegates from Pacific Islands study Philippine mobile phone banking
July 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A joint study group of 9 members from the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) and the Pacific Island Central Bankers visited the Philippines on June 21-23, 2010 to learn about Philippine mobile phone banking. Specifically, they were interested in the regulatory approach adopted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for its successful implementation.
RBAP-MABS, a USAID-supported program, presented to the study group its experiences with rural banks and microfinance clients in developing and implementing its mobile phone banking initiatives using the GCASH platform. The RBAP-MABS team also shared the lessons learned over the past 5 years or so of experience. To date, there are already 62 rural banks with 906 branches offering mobile phone banking services to their clients in the countryside.
The study tour, led by Ms. Alyson Slater from Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), is composed of officials from the Reserve Bank of Fiji, Central Bank of Samoa, Reserve Bank of Vanuatu, Bank of Papua New Guinea, Banking and Payments of Timor Leste, and Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme. AFI is a global network of policymakers in developing countries that provides its members with the tools and resources to share and develop policies which promote financial inclusion.