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 »

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 Daily Inquirer — WANT TO MAKE deposits into your bank account without actually dealing with a bank? How about paying bills, or cashing in the money your mother, father, brother or sister sent your from abroad by simply taking a few steps out of your front door?

These things, which used to be impossible unless you lived right in the center of the Makati Central Business District, could soon be the norm for the rest of the populace.

This is the idea behind Globe Telecom Inc.’s plan to create the country’s largest financial services network with the help of its 15,000 vendors.

Globe will turn its sub-dealers, or vendors who distribute products like prepaid credits or SIM cards to be sold to consumers, into cash-in and cash-out points for the company’s electronic money service GCash, creating a network of informal automated teller machines (ATMs) throughout the archipelago. Read the rest of the article on Inquirer.net.

cbalingit :: Dec.11.2009 :: News Features :: No Comments »

by Bubbles Salvador

Imagine a remote area where peopleactually have to travel far to get to a bank. As banks continuously strive to improve services to their clients, Globe has come up with hassle-free ways of doing bank transactions with Globe’s Mobile Phone Banking Services (MPBS), making banking transactions via GCASH possible.

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cbalingit :: Aug.07.2009 :: News Features :: 3 Comments »