Smart assists MasterCard's new mobile payments facility in Brazil

MANILA, Philippines - Mobile phone subscribers in Brazil will soon be able to buy prepaid airtime or pay mobile merchants using their handsets, drawing funds directly from their MasterCard credit or debit cards.

This will be made possible by MasterCard’s new Mobile Payments Gateway, which was developed with the assistance of Smart Hub Inc., a subsidiary of leading wireless services provider Smart Communications.

Developed over the past year, this mobile payments service is being offered in cooperation with leading Brazilian financial institutions, Itaú Unibanco and Redecard, and with cellular market leader, Vivo.

Vivo mobile subscribers will be able to avail of this service and link their MasterCard credit or debit cards issued by Itau to their mobile phones.

After Brazil, this service will be brought to major markets in Eurasia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The commercial launch of MasterCard’s mobile payments service in Brazil is the latest milestone in the development of Smart Money – Smart’s award-winning mobile commerce platform. This is in line with Smart’s new strategy of promoting Smart Money through partnerships with Philippine and overseas banks as well as international remittance companies like Western Union and MoneyGram.

“Through this partnership with MasterCard, you could say Smart Money has gone global. At the same time, we are also going very, very local,” Smart chief wireless advisor Orlando Vea said.

Under its award-winning Islands Activation Program, for example, Smart is working with microfinance institutions (MFIs) to bring mobile payments and transfer services to remote corners of the Philippines.

In 2010, Smart brought this program to 48 island communities, mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao. These communities, which have a population of close to two million, have limited or no access to banking services.

Working with local MFIs, Smart has made it possible for residents of these communities to send and receive funds through “money-in-money-out” (MIMO) centers. People in these areas have also been able to set up new enterprises, initially through the selling of Smart airtime load.

The introduction of mobile commerce services in these areas has stimulated economic activity and made lives easier and more convenient for residents. Leveraging on its extensive network reach, Smart is now planning to expand this program to cover remote inland communities as well.

The MIMOs in remote communities are connected to a global Smart Money network. Today, Filipinos all over the world can send cash directly to the Smart mobile phones of their loved ones in the Philippines through any of over 95,000 international money transfer locations, including participating locations of The Western Union and MoneyGram International in the United States and in Hong Kong. This expansion of Smart Money’s remittance channels complements the network of Smart Money Centers found in various parts of the Philippines.

With over 4,000 Smart Money Centers and 100 Smart Money Wireless Centers that serve as MIMO outlets, rural folk need not travel far to the city or town centers to receive remittances, to load cash into their Smart Money electronic wallet or to purchase load for their Smart mobile phones. They may do so from any Smart Money Center, including outlets of Cebuana Lhuillier, Palawan Pawnshop and Hapinoy Stores, strategically found all over the country.

Smart has also made it much easier for its 45 million subscribers to transfer funds to each other through their cell phones. Smart subscribers can now also directly receive funds on their mobile phones, automatically getting a virtual Smart Money account, in the absence of an existing one.

This is made possible by Pasa Pera, Smart Money’s latest mobile-to-mobile cash transfer offering. A subscriber will receive an SMS notification every time cash has been sent to his mobile number. Funds from a virtual Smart money account may be used to reload Smart prepaid airtime.

To enjoy Smart Money’s full features, a Smart Money card is needed. To get one, subscribers simply have to present a valid ID at any Smart Wireless Center. The new Smart Money cardholder may then enjoy a wide array of services, such as peer-to-peer cash transfers, purchase of goods and services from partner MasterCard establishments worldwide and online, and the ability to withdraw from thousands of ATMS in the country and Cirrus ATMs around the world.

Using Smart Money, account holders may also securely pay   utility bills with just a few clicks on their mobile phone, anytime, anywhere. In 2010, the network of utility partners of Smart expanded to include Ateneo de Naga University, Bacolod-based Central Negros Electric Cooperative Inc. and the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

The various milestones marked in 2010 are aimed at creating a virtual financial ecosystem with the use of mobile phone technology to serve the expanding network of Smart Money users which now stands at 8.5 million.