MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has approved the request of Globe Telecom’s mobile commerce subsidiary G-Xchange (GXI) to use its parent’s sub-distributors as GCash outlets.
The approval brings the number of GCash remittance outlets to over 18,000, giving it the largest remittance network in the Philippines.
Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu said expanding the GCash network is a key strategy to the success of the business.
“Our distribution system is one of our most valuable assets and combined with our current GCash network of partners will help us significantly expand our efforts towards providing a vehicle for financial inclusion to more Filipinos all over the country. We are truly grateful to the BSP for its foresight in seeing the potential and groundbreaking precedence that this opportunity brings to the financial services industry,” he added.
Meanwhile, GXI president Rizza Maniego-Eala pointed out that the massive effort in expanding the GCash outlet network is a testament to the company’s commitment to the nation in lowering the delivery cost of remittances and access to various financial services.
“This is really a very important step for us as we move forward by using the pervasive Globe distributor network to further expand the GCash services with more outlets. BSP’s approval will allow us to improve our ability to truly bring remittance and micro-financial service points to more neighborhoods across the Philippines, and we are committed to continue fully complying with regulations that will ensure financial integrity and the protection of consumers,” Eala said.
Currently, GCash has about 1.2 million users and has an average transaction value of P5 billion a month.
The Philippines remains geographically fragmented with 70 to 80 percent of the population remaining unbanked or underbanked. Thus, the expansion of Globe’s Gcash network gives the people, especially those in rural areas a better chance to gain access to financial services, Globe said.
Traditionally, GCash is offered at Globe Business Centers, rural banks, pawnshops and other remittance partners. Now, GCash will be available in more loading stations including sari-sari stores, gift shops, pharmacies, Internet cafes, boutiques, food establishments, photocopying stations, school supply stores, bakeshops, rice dealers, farm and poultry supply stores, gas stations, multi-purpose cooperatives, cellphone shops, and various stores nationwide.
Through GCash, Globe also makes receiving international remittances easy and affordable for the beneficiaries. The expanded GCASH outlet network supports the delivery of money transfers from abroad through GXI’s 744 international partner outlets in 30 countries.
With GCash, Globe and TM subscribers can send remittances, buy load, make donations, settle their loans, receive their salaries, pay their bills, and buy products and services all through text messaging or using the convenient mobile wallet menu in their SIM cards.