GXI president joins world leaders in int’l forum on digital payments

MANILA, Philippines - G-Xchange Inc., the mobile commerce arm of Globe Telecom, recently participated in the Partnerships for Digital Financial Inclusion event at the 68th United Nations General Assembly in New York. 

The company showcased its flagship product GCASH, proving the importance of this globally recognized service for financial inclusion.    

GXI president Paolo Baltao joined world leaders and major industry experts from the US, Europe, Africa and Asia, including renowned business magnate Bill Gates; Queen Maxima of the Netherlands; Ralph Jooma, M.P. Minister of Economic Planning and Development; and Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisa Jr., to discuss various ways of alleviating poverty through digital technology.

The international forum led discussions on how partnerships between governments, the private sector and development organizations help promote inclusive growth using digital payments, be catalysts of financial inclusion, and drivers of sustainable development.

At the panel discussion, Baltao shared significant pointers on how to establish a successful public-private partnership, citing various incidents where GCASH, Globe Telecom’s internationally acclaimed micropayment service, has aided the Philippine government in disbursing social welfare funds to Filipinos in far-flung areas.

“We in Globe continue our efforts in promoting conditional cash transfer through GCASH which is now being used by our national government as its service strategy in offering conditional cash grants to disadvantaged and resource-poor members of the society to improve their health, nutrition and education. We are proud that mobile commerce innovations like GCASH are now being used to improve the lives of millions of Filipinos,” said Baltao.

The invited world leaders and major industry players agreed to include financial inclusion as part of the UN Development Goals post-2015 agenda since there are almost 2.5 billion adults who are now excluded from the formal financial services sector.

Changing the salaries, pensions, social welfare stipends and emergency relief funds from cash to electronic presents a new opportunity to help people at the base of the pyramid by delivering financial services at an affordable cost.

The event was hosted by the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Capital Development Fund, and Better than Cash Alliance.