Manila Times – FOR those wondering about the prospects of mobile banking—a key tool for the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP)—this year, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) research firms have made a prognosis that is sure to make any rural bank executive excited.
According to its 2012 predictions for the Asia Pacific Region, ICT research firm XMG Global, founded and headed by Filipino-Canadian Lauro Vives, the region will be the world’s fastest growing mobile and broadband market with over 3 billion connections this year. The growth will be driven primarily by three factors: continuous efforts of telecommunications companies to invest an average of 17.4 percent of revenues into capital expenditures to meet emerging demand; variety and flexibility of payment and billing schemes; and low-cost handsets.
On the other hand, another leading ICT research firm, Gartner Inc., said that the Philippines is one of only two countries (the other is Kenya) that have successfully implemented mobile payment solutions in micropayments services to distribute money in far-flung areas.
Mobile phone companies Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. have long been employing GCash and Smart Money, respectively, in micropayments services. Even the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program uses a mobile payment service, GCash Remit.