Smart pushes mobile commerce in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Communications Inc. continues to push for the rapid adoption of mobile commerce and electronic payments to higher levels in the Philippines.

Smart chief wireless advisor Orlando B. Vea said his vision for the Philippines is not just to be the text messaging and social networking capital of the world.

“I can see the Philippines becoming the digital commerce capital of the world not only as consumers or producers but also as a global center of excellence and innovation for mobile money and m-commerce,” Vea said in his keynote speech at the Digital Commerce Summit 2014 held recently at the SMX Convention Center.

Vea is also the president and chief executive officer of Smart e-Money Inc. (SMI).

Online stores are generating more than 50 percent of their sales from smartphones and tablets.  

M-commerce will soon dominate electronic commerce.  People will be shopping primarily with their smartphones and mobile devices.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) estimates more than 2.5-billion payment transactions per month but only about one percent is done electronically with the rest still being paid with cash or checks.

With penetration rate for smartphones in the country seen hitting 50 percent next year, and with rising incomes of the so-called Millennials, Generation Y, and digital natives, mobile payments is seen gaining more traction in the country.

There are currently 110-million mobile subscriptions to date based on SIM cards in the Philippines.  

With the pervasiveness of the mobile phone, a future where every phone can be an automated teller machine (ATM) or a bank branch or a virtual credit card is not a far-off possibility.

SMI and affiliate Voyager Innovations are developing new online payment solutions enabled by mobile technology for the unbanked and the un-carded, and these are seen helping fuel the growth of mobile commerce.

As an example, a mobile phone owner could pay for things by using the mobile phone number and an NFC (near field communications) sticker with SMI’s Charge2Phone service that will be launched this year in partnership with Visa and Citibank.

Just recently, SMI, in partnership with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) launched the country’s first mobile-based salary loan facility bundled with automatic savings and insurance features.  

Everything from loan application to release of loan proceeds will be done electronically.

“Nobody will be left behind in our digital economy. Now the farmer or fisherman and his family in remote areas of the country can buy a book from Amazon, a tablet from Lazada, a pair of shoes from Zalora, a kuliglig engine, or a fishing net from somewhere in cyberspace using their mobile device,” said Vea.

On the merchant side, SMI has solutions like Tackthis!, a simplified, end-to-end  online store builder, or full service e-commerce enablers like A-Commerce.  

These solutions are fast becoming so user-friendly that every person can have Amazon-like capabilities without having to operate logistic facilities nor develop and maintain their own websites.

Another interesting innovation that SMI is marketing worldwide is LockbyMobile, a mobile app that you can use to lock your credit card, debit card or ATM card when you are not using it and unlock it only as you use your card.  

No more hacking worries for both the cardholder and the card issuers.  This is launching soon with a number of local and international banks.

With traditional businesses nearing saturation point, the PLDT Group, which includes Smart and SMI, is now transforming itself to adapt to the digital world, and harness other business opportunities powered by mobile technologies.  

Its recent acquisition of an effective 8.4-percent stake in Germany’s Rocket Internet signals the group’s digital thrust.

“The acquisition is more than just a financial investment, but rather a partnership with a vision that is close to the PLDT Group’s heart.  Between SMI and our new friends in Rocket Internet, we look to bring the unbanked, un-carded and unconnected not only in the Philippines but also in other emerging markets into the digital economy,” Vea said.