M-Commerce leaders from Bahrain and Latin America study Philippine mobile banking

May 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

bahrain & utiba visit

A study group composed of six executives from YQ Bahrain, Movilway and Utiba Americas visited the Philippines on May 16-18 to take a look at Philippine mobile phone banking. Movilway CEO Fernando Fiksman and COO Dan Cohen, as well as YQ Bahrain General Manager Fawaz Ghazal and Board Director Tariq Al Saffar, were accompanied by two representatives from Utiba, the mobile wallet developer that crafted Globe’s GCASH.
Facilitated by the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), the tour included visits to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), USAID-supported Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program, and Nueva Ecija-based MABS participating bank GM Bank. They met with GM Bank’s mobile phone banking clients, interviewing them on the benefits and convenience of the bank’s mobile phone banking services.
MABS presented its mobile phone banking initiatives, which it rolled out in partnership with Globe’s G-XChange Inc. (GXI) and its participating banks. The delegates were particularly interested in the country’s m-banking regulatory environment and the benefits of m-banking to bank clients.

A study group composed of six executives from YQ Bahrain, Movilway and Utiba Americas visited the Philippines on May 16-18 to take a look at Philippine mobile phone banking. Movilway CEO Fernando Fiksman and COO Dan Cohen, as well as YQ Bahrain General Manager Fawaz Ghazal and Board Director Tariq Al Saffar, were accompanied by two representatives from Utiba, the mobile wallet developer that crafted Globe’s GCASH. [Read more...]

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MABS hosts Mobile Money Transfer Asia-Pacific Conference

December 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Owing to its exemplary performance and remarkable success as mobile commerce pioneer and leader, the Philippines hosted the first Mobile Money Transfer Asia Pacific Conference (MMT-APAC) On December 7-9, 2009 put on by Clarion Events. Held at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Manila, the conference gathered some of the most important mobile money industry leaders, mobile network operators, financial institutions and regulators from all over the world. Following a tradition of successful MMT conferences in different parts of the world, the MMT-APAC hosted 166 participants and featured presentations from respected industry leaders. [Read more...]

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Philippine Rural Banks’ Mobile Phone Banking experiences shared at the MMT Summit in Dubai

October 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Taking part in the international mobile money technology (MMT) scene, MABS presented alongside other mobile phone banking leaders on how mobile money works on the “front lines” of microfinance at the 2009 Mobile Money Technology Global Summit held in Dubai on October 26-27. MABS Chief of Party John Owens shared the experience of rural banks in the Philippines who are effectively using mobile money transfer to expand outreach to more than 330 experts and leaders in the mobile money industry who participated in the summit.
Presenting with him in a panel discussion on how mobile money works on the ‘front lines’ of microfinance were Musoni’s Africa Implementation Team Manager Cameron Goldie-Scot, Aikku’s Microfinance Specialist Philippe Breul, and Utiba’s Product and Marketing Director RiteshAndley.  They presented on the operational and cultural impact of mobile phone banking on existing practices of MFIs, MMT as a tool to increase productivity and reduce operational costs, and how MMT affects the lives of microentrepreneurs in Africa, India and the Philippines.
The conference also featured visionary case studies from Afghanistan, Cambodia, Kenya, the Philippines, Tanzania and other countries on providing an innovative platform for banks and microfinance institutions to reach out to the unbanked and under-banked market. It featured the work of MABS and the rural banks that have partnered with Globe X-Change Inc,’s GCASH platform to facilitate mobile phone banking as well as Smart’s work with MFIs.
Cameron Goldi-Scot also shared some interesting perspectives on making mobile money work for microfinance, especially for loan repayments in Kenya and Tanzania.  There were also some excellent presentations about using mobile money for payroll services including WING in Cambodia and Roshan in Afghanistan. Aside from these presentations, the conference also covered various other topics including mobile money as a tool for financial inclusion and economic growth, and the effective use of mobile money transfer ecosystem for banking on the unbanked, and how to work with regulators.
The MMT conference held in Dubai follows the equally successful MMT conferences previously held in Africa earlier this year and the first MMT Summit last year. This December 8 and 9, the Philippines will be the host of the first MMT Conference and Expo for Asia and the Pacific at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. The conference will highlight the success of mobile money transfer and will feature key industry players such as Globe Telecom’s GCASH, Smart Communications’ Smart Money and mobile money wallet developer Utiba.

Taking part in the international mobile money technology (MMT) scene, MABS presented alongside other mobile phone banking leaders on how mobile money works on the “front lines” of microfinance at the 2009 Mobile Money Technology Global Summit held in Dubai on October 26-27. MABS Chief of Party John Owens shared the experience of rural banks in the Philippines who are effectively using mobile money transfer to expand outreach to more than 330 experts and leaders in the mobile money industry who participated in the summit.

Presenting with him in a panel discussion on how mobile money works on the ‘front lines’ of microfinance were Musoni’s Africa Implementation Team Manager Cameron Goldie-Scot, Aikku’s Microfinance Specialist Philippe Breul, and Utiba’s Product and Marketing Director Ritesh Andley.  They presented on the operational and cultural impact of mobile phone banking on existing practices of MFIs, MMT as a tool to increase productivity and reduce operational costs, and how MMT affects the lives of microentrepreneurs in Africa, India and the Philippines. [Read more...]

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MABS, GXI, and UTIBA support PR Bank in expanding its Mobile Phone Banking Services in Manila

October 24, 2009 By 1 Comment

PR Bank-MMT MPBS seminar

PR Bank has made the strategic decision to rollout Mobile Phone Banking Services (MPBS) in urban areas, and the expansion of the urban mobile commerce ecosystem, 15 prospective MPBS marketing agents completed a two-day training/workshop that oriented them to the basic features, procedures, and benefits of MPBS and GCASH – the electronic money platform facilitating the services.

The marketers were also given an overview of the products and services offered by Philippine Rural Banking Corporation (PR Bank) – a participating bank of the Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program and an accredited G-Xchange Inc. (GXI) partner bank offering the MABS-designed MPBS. They were taught MPBS transaction procedures, and selling and marketing techniques. Trainers from PR Bank, the MABS Program and GXI, the wholly owned mobile commerce subsidiary of Globe Telecom, conducted the training held at PR Bank’s Ortigas Center Branch on October 22 and 23, 2009. [Read more...]

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