Mobile Phone Banking Blog

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.

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cbalingit :: Jul.21.2010 :: News Features :: No Comments »

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.

Read the complete article on Philippine Star online.

cbalingit :: Jul.14.2010 :: News :: No Comments »

“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

cbalingit :: Jul.07.2010 :: News :: No Comments »

Strengthening Mobile Phone Banking Services for the Rural Sector

Globe Telecom’s mobile commerce subsidiary, G-Xchange, Inc. (GXI), joined the National Convention of the Rural Banking Association of the Philippines (RBAP) to recognize its top 10 rural bank partners in cooperation with Microenterprise Access to Banking Services Program (MABS) supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). RBAP-MABS has been instrumental in giving clients of rural banks long-term solutions to accessing financial services including mobile banking through GCASH.

The 10 GCASH awardees: Philippine Rural Banking Corporation, Green Bank, Cantilan Bank, GM Bank, 1st Valley Bank, Agribusiness Bank, Bangko Kabayan, Rang-Ay Bank, Card Bank and New Rural Bank of Victorias.

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cbalingit :: Jun.03.2010 :: Globe press releases :: No Comments »

The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) through its USAID-supported Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program will now receive support from Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) and The MasterCard Foundation to assist the expansion of mobile phone banking services via increased financial education for customers and clients of rural banks.

Rural Bank Mobile Phone Banking Services Set to Expand in the Philippines

There are already 900 accredited rural bank branches and sub-offices offering mobile phone banking services via the GCASH platform, benefiting 122,000 rural bank clients. More than PhP six billion (US $130 million) in mobile phone banking transactions have been processed by these rural banks and the volume of transactions is increasing.

Through this partnership, RBAP-MABS will further accelerate this growth by renewing the educational campaign for its mobile phone banking initiative. RBAP-MABS will leverage its partnerships with rural banks, Globe and its gateway SMS service provider to develop an improved m-banking toolkit for rural banks officers and staff, their merchant partners and their clients. This toolkit will include instructional videos, web-based distance learning tools and mobile banking guides for improving customer education. RBAP-MABS intends for these materials to be publicly available online, transferrable to and among mobile phones, and deliverable through Internet applications and channels.

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cbalingit :: May.28.2010 :: News Features :: No Comments »

Philippine Star – The New Rural Bank of Victorias together with G-XChange, Inc. (GXI), a wholly-owned mobile commerce subsidiary of Globe Telecom, bring the benefits of mobile banking services to communities in Visayas benefiting individuals like Ate Evelyn.

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cbalingit :: May.13.2010 :: Globe press releases :: No Comments »

Computer World — As the texting capital of the world averaging more than two billion text messages a day, the Philippines is predicted to become the leader in mobile commerce.

John Owens, a well-known microfinance expert who serves as chief of party to Microenterprise Access to Banking Services, said with around 76 million mobile phone subscriptions in the Philippines, it is more than double than all the country’s bank accounts of 33 to 34 million. He said that potentially today people can be provided with financial services just by using the phone.

“Mobile commerce reaches all levels of society. From those who are considered the unbank (people with no bank accounts), to rural household where the whole infrastructures putting ATMs, and physical bank networks won’t reach — the mobile phone does,” Owens said, adding there are tremendous opportunities being seen worldwide about the growth of the mobile commerce industry, especially MMS (multimedia messaging service) which is now reaching almost half of the globe’s population.

Read the complete article on IDG News online.

cbalingit :: Apr.19.2010 :: News :: No Comments »

Philippine Star - The Philippines is recognized among the leaders in developing mobile banking for the unbanked. Mobile banking utilizes the mobile phone to extend banking services such as deposits, withdrawals including remittances or money transfer, bills payments, and loan payments.

Telecommunications companies (telcos), such as Smart Communications (Smart) and Globe Telecommunications (Globe), were one of the first worldwide to start mobile money. Smart started in 2001 through Smart Money, and Globe followed soon after in 2004 with GCash.

But one of the leaders in terms of reach and number of subscribers is M-PESA of Kenya. It has 8.6 millions active users or 25 percent of the country’s population, and monthly person-to-person transactions worth over $320 million with average of $37 per user per month.

The telcos have put up systems that cater to the average bank users to the poorer segment of society that do not have banking relationships often referred to as the unbanked, as well as the under-banked that undertake limited banking services. READ MORE>>

cbalingit :: Mar.09.2010 :: News :: No Comments »

Philippine Star - Belgacom International Carrier Services (BICS), a leading global provider of voice, data and value added services and G-Xchange (GXI), the mobile-commerce subsidiary of Globe Telecommunications Inc., have signed an agreement to expand GXI’s existing number of remittance corridors, using BICS’ HomeSend Remittance Hub.

The HomeSend service, created in partnership with eServGlobal, provides a mobile-centric approach to international remittance. It allows subscribers of any mobile operator connected to HomeSend to transfer money electronically via a cellular phone to a GCASH subscriber.

This new cooperation, therefore, provides increased choice and convenience for Filipinos living or working overseas when sending money home to their families and friends in the Philippines. READ MORE

cbalingit :: Mar.09.2010 :: News :: No Comments »

1st Valley Bank together with G-Xchange Inc. (GXI), the wholly-owned mobile commerce subsidiary of Globe Telecom, brings the benefits of mobile banking services to Filipinos in Mindanao.

Working closely with the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) and Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS), a program supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 1st valley bank helps Mindanao by making banking products and services even more accessible to clients.

Through GCASH, 1st Valley Bank is able to enhance its “at your doorstep” financial service offerings in Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, and the cities of Iligan Ozamiz, Oroquieta, Dipolog, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga.

By pursuing pioneering banking products and services, 1st Valley Bank, with the support of RBAP-MABS and GCASH, has empowered micro-enterpreneurs like Aling Romela to increase their success through mobile banking.

cbalingit :: Feb.18.2010 :: Globe press releases, mobile phone banking client stories :: 2 Comments »