Globe unit sees big jump in GCash deals

MANILA, Philippines - G-Xchange Inc. (GXI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc., expects to double or triple the current daily GCash transaction value of P200 million as more and more Filipinos use the mobile commerce platform.

GXI president Paolo Baltao said in an interview with reporters that the company is looking a growth rate of between 100 percent and 150 percent in terms of revenues as well as daily transaction value.

Since its creation in October 2004, Baltao said GXI has reached soaring heights of 1.2 million subscribers by creating relevant solutions that cater to a wide range of customer needs.

He pointed out that services offered by the company allows subscribers to send money through remittances, buy load, donate through partner institutions like Red Cross, and pay bills with over 80 partners including Meralco, Manila Water, Globe Postpaid, Metrobank, and HSBC.

He added GXI also has GCash American Express Virtual Card empowering subscribers to purchase goods and apps from US sites like Amazon.com without the frills of having a credit card.

According to him, GXI is looking at expanding the list of its partners to cater to the needs of subscribers and at the same time looking at other services such as payroll as well as other sectors particularly the financial sector.

Right now, he said the company serves three to four million families under the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.

“We are looking at the financial sector as part of our diversification process,” he added.

GCash is expanding its network in the country by growing its user base with a partnership with marketing consultancy firm TORCHe Global Marketing Inc. (TGMI) to reach out to the widest possible consumer base through the latest technologies in mobile commerce and advertising.

With the agreement, GCash would be offered to TGMI affiliate companies and organizations such as the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Franchise Corp. of the Philippines (FranCorp), among others.

GCASH services that would be made available for use of TGMI affiliates include the PowerPay+ Card which is a funds disbursement service linked to a Globe/TM SIM offered to organizations that traditionally disburse via cash and check, the Buy Load service which enables GCash users to become load re-sellers by buying airtime load using GCash with as much as 10-percent rebate.

Likewise, potential entrepreneurs could set up to accept GCash users who would like to convert their regular cash to GCash and vice-versa, and a soon to be released payment solution that would enable business owners to accept credit card payments without the need for a traditional bank-issued POS terminal.