On April 15-16, RBAP-MABS and Smart Communications trained 14 field officers of the Rural Bank of Mabitac (RB Mabitac) on mobile money transfer using Smart Money. The two-day Field Officers’ Smart Money Training/Workshop held in Los Baños, Laguna was attended by 14 representatives from five RB Mabitac branches: Los Baños, Paete, Candelaria, Infanta and Cabuyao.
Smart Communications is one of the leading wireless services providers in the Philippines, with over 45 million subscribers and 8 million Smart Money subscribers nationwide. RBAP, through its MABS program, collaborated with Smart to pilot test its e-money transfer services with RB Mabitac.
Three RB Mabitac branches (Cabuyao branch, Infanta branch and the head office) participated in the pilot test conducted with 30 clients and selected bank employees. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), through its Core Information Technology Supervision Group (BSP-CITSG), recently gave conditional approval for RB Mabitac to conduct Smart Money MIMO (money in, money out) services and facilitate the distribution of Instant Smart Money Cards in three of its branches.
This new initiative aims to tap Smart subscribers among RB Mabitac’s existing 20,000 client base composed of both depositors and borrowers. It is also expected to serve as an added marketing tool for potential clients in all strategic locations of the bank. After this training/workshop, RB Mabitac plans to rollout and facilitate Smart Money Instant Cards for their clients who are Smart subscribers in all of its ten branches.
The workshop was aimed at educating the participants on the basics of Smart Money, including its services, features, benefits and application to partner rural banks. By the end of the session, the participants were able to understand the beneficial attributes of the technology and establish that Smart Money is indeed fast, secure and accessible in the areas where RB Mabitac branches are operating. The bank’s clients can now use Smart Money for reload, encashment and bill payment in RB Mabitac’s Los Baños, Paete, Candelaria, Infanta and Cabuyao branches.
The bank staff also learned how to facilitate the distribution of the Instant Smart Money card. The Smart Money technical team demonstrated the processes involved in the Instant Card activation. Along with the tutorial, marketing strategies were also provided to the field officers in order to promote these services to their existing clients.
The training also included a role-playing activity, simulating Smart Money transactions such as money transfers and paying between different branches.
The second day of the training/ workshop was devoted to visits to several clients. The participants facilitated actual Smart Money registration and distributed Smart Money Instant cards, applying their learnings from the previous day.