Smart to expand its mobile money transfer service across the country

CEBU, Philippines -  To further boost the eCommerce and mobile money transfer services in the Philippines, Smart Communications vows to further expand its Smart Money network across the country.

During the recently concluded National Microfinance Stakeholders Summit at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Smart’s Financial services senior manager Maybelle Santos emphasized how electronic money, specifically Smart Money, empowers remote, unbanked, and underserved areas in the Philippines, by enabling them to facilitate secure, economical, and convenient financial transactions, bills payment, and airtime reloading through—mobile phone.

The two-day affair showcased products and services that cater to the needs of the microfinance sector, including Smart Money, the world's first re-loadable payment card linked to a mobile phone.

The summit kicked off with a forum entitled "BSP and Financial Inclusion: Using Mobile Phone Technology to Expand Access to Finance”, a discussion by key players in the industry of how mobile commerce and electronic money can create enabling financial ecosystems for members of the base of the pyramid (BOP) to trigger economic development and empower industries.

Out of 1,635 municipalities in the country, only 610 have banks and only 27 percent of Filipinos has access to financial channels.

In 2010, Smart Money was able to successfully facilitate P13.5 billion worth of transactions within the remote communities that used to have limited or no access to financial services.

“Through strategic collaborations with local and international partners, Smart Money is able to provide Filipinos anywhere in the archipelago with simple, secure, affordable and convenient means to send and receive cash, even without the presence of banks and ATMs in their communities,” said Santos.

There are currently over 8.5 million Filipinos using Smart Money who enjoy the benefits of airtime reloading, bills payment, ATM withdrawals from over thousands of ATMs here and abroad, peer-to-peer mobile money transfers, cash remittances from any of 95,000 international partner transfer locations, and purchases from MasterCard establishments all over the world and on the worldwide web.

The platform also allows Smart Money users to send fund transfers directly to any of over 45 million Smart subscribers. Smart Money also provides sustainable livelihood projects and new business opportunities to help the BOP and micro-entrepreneur store owners enhance their lives and maximize their strengths. (FREEMAN)