Smart offers text-based remittance service

After conquering the local mobile phone market, leading wireless operator Smart Communications is now branching out into the world’s first and only international cash remittance service via text messaging.

In an interview with The STAR, Smart president and CEO Napoleon Nazareno said that through this new service which will be launched simultaneously here and several other countries tomorrow, the company hopes to corner the bulk of the remittance business between other countries and the Philippines as well as within the country (from the city to the provinces and vice-versa).

Filipino OFWs send home around $6 billion, an amount greater than all direct investments of the US, the Philippines’ largest trading partner, at nearly $3 billion. There are eight million OFWs sustaining 23 million family members back in the Philippines.

Smart personal communications and mobile services division head Anastacio Martirez said the company will be offering to the D/E market a new product which they can really utilize. "This is really for the mass market and we hope to attract more subscribers from the D/E market who want to utilize this service," he said.

Smart Padala will allow an overseas foreign worker and other people who want to send remittances to the Philippines to send the money directly to the mobile phone of his beneficiary.

Martirez said this new remittance service via text is cheaper (about half of the usual P300 per P5000 remittance fee through normal channels) because there will be no more door-to-door fee. It will also be a lot faster as it will be completed in a matter of minutes instead of the usual three days. Importantly, too, Smart Padala is reliable because a notification message will be sent to the cellphone of the beneficiary that money has been credited, he added.

Smart has entered into partnerships with the following remittance companies: CBN Grupo (UK, Spain, Greece, Hong Kong, and Japan), Travelex/Asia FX (worldwide), Forex International (HK), New York Bay (New York and New Jersey, USA), DAX Remittance (Los Angeles), and Banco de Oro partner (HK). Among the partners in the pipeline are iRemit (HK and Australia) and Kabayan Remittance (Middle East, HK, US).

Martirez said that Smart is not competing with remittance companies but will instead increase their volume of business. "We are just a fulfillment channel and have no plans of displacing them. We are here to partner with them and not compete with them, " he emphasized. When a person who wants to remit money to the Philippines goes to any of Smart’s partner remittance companies, the person can specify whether he wants to remit through the usual process or through Smart Padala.

If the beneficiary is a 64K Super SIM subscriber of Smart, he just needs to activate it using the Smart menu in his cellphone. Afterwards, he can immediately get cash in any of the encashment centers by doing a ‘wallet-to-wallet’ transfer to the account of the center.

But even a non-Smart subscriber can use Smart Padala, Martirez explained. The remittance partner can assign an account to the customer and will send subscriber’s details to Smart so a card could be delivered. He can then use the card to receive remittance and go to any Expressnet and Megalink ATM or pay for purchases in over 20 million Mastercard electronic establishments worldwide.

One can use the Smart Money card to pay for purchase in any Mastercard establishment. He can also get the cash from over 100 Smart wireless centers nationwide or withdraw from the ATM. Other encashment centers like McDonald’s, 7-11, and Tambunting Pawnshop are also being put in place. "In the case of establishments like McDonald’s and 7-11, this will attract more customers to their place. The remittance company charges around P100 for every P5,000 sent while the outlet like McDonalds will charge one percent or P50 for every P5,000 or a total of P150 which is still cheaper than the door-to-door charge of P300," Martirez noted.

To illustrate, Yolly, a nurse in New York, can send cash to her husband Nestor and their kids through a Smart remittance company partner like Travelex. This remittance company then sends the peso equivalent through a Smart Money account it establishes for Nestor in the Philippines. Nestor receives the text notification of money loaded in his account on his Smart cellphone. He can then go to any accredited Smart Padala center or selected outlets of McDonald’s, 7-11 and Tambunting Pawnshop for instant encashment through his cellphone. He simply transfers the amount to the Smart Padala Center’s account to receive his cash, he explained.