MANILA, Philippines - Bantayan Island, for its crystal-clear waters and long stretch of powdery white sand, is considered one of the tropical attractions of the Philippines. It is accessible via a three-hour land trip from Cebu City, plus a 1.5-hour ferry ride from Hagnaya Port, North of Cebu.
The same beautiful and rustic features of the island are likewise the reasons islanders are virtually isolated, socially and financially, them from the mainland.
However, that is changing ever since Smart Communication put up the first Smart Money Center in the island, enabling its residents to avail of affordable mobile financial services.
Smart utilized its Smart Money platform, the world’s first re-loadable payment card linked to a mobile phone.
Under its Island Activations Program (IAP), Smart partnered with the First Consolidated Cooperative Along Tañon Seaboards (FCCT) to put up Smart Money Centers in far-flung areas of Cebu, including Madredejos, Bantayan Island.
The Smart Money Center provides island residents with a safe, accessible and affordable way to send and receive cash remittances, all with a few clicks on a Smart mobile phone.
Thus, Bantayan folk need not take the requisite boat and bus rides to remit cash through mainland banks and remittance centers. All they have to do is simply go to the FCCT Smart Money Center to send or receive money to their friends and loved ones anywhere in the Philippines.
They may also receive cash transfers from another Smart Money account holder or from the wide network Smart remittance partners here and around the world.
Through the Smart Money Center, island residents may also settle bills and make mobile payments, with just a few clicks on a Smart mobile phone. All transactions are done at the speed of a text message.
The IAP is a GSMA-backed initiative launched by Smart, in partnership with Seed Finance, to roll-out mobile financial services to remote, underserved Philippine islands that have limited or no access to banks. FCCT is one of the 46 microfinance institutions (MFI) supported by the IAP.
SeedFinance is a specialized financing firm focused on microfinance institutions (MFIs), including rural banks and cooperatives.
It is working with 73 MFIs with an aggregate clientele base of 1.2 million poor and low-income people.