Tag: GCASH

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Rural Banks Trained on GCASH-Enabled Mobile Phone Banking Services

The United States Agency for International Development-supported Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) – Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program conducted two separate GCASH accreditation trainings for rural banks from the Bicol Federation and National Capital Region (NCR) on May 10 at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Naga City and May 29 at the RBAP Conference Room in Manila.

Five (5) participants from four (4) Bicol Federation banks – Rural Bank of San Jose (Camarines Sur), Bangko Rural ng Magarao, Rural Bank of San Fernando (Camarines Sur) and Rural Bank of Pasacao – attended the training while seven (7) participants from four (4) banks – Bangko Nuestra Senora, Banco Alabang, Country Rural Bank of Taguig and Rural Bank of Karamotan – joined the training for NCR banks.

The training is part of the USAID-supported RBAP-MABS Program’s initiative to assist rural banks by providing a range of solutions that …

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The Future of Mobile Phone Banking in the Philippines: Global Trends for Rural Bankers to Consider (Part 3 of 3)

During my presentation, I shared with the audience some of the latest relevant updates and trends that we are seeing from around the world in terms of the uses of mobile money and mobile banking services.

Viral Marketing & Use of Social Networks

One interesting theme is the use of viral marketing to support the expanded use of mobile money and mobile banking services by focusing on key influencers in particular markets. I wrote about this a few years ago in an article entitled Creating a Tipping Point for Mobile Phone-based Financial Services. In this article, I talked about the factors needed to reach a critical mass of clients with mobile banking services.

As I mentioned in my paper, Malcolm Gladwell in his book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, describes three agents of change that create tipping points in the spread of …

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USAID Officers Get Hands-on Briefing on Mobile Phone Banking Services

Officers of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) were given a firsthand briefing on the mobile phone banking initiative of the USAID-supported Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines-Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) Program during a visit with partner bank, PR Savings Bank’s Ortigas Branch on August 11, 2011. The officers included Science & Technology Adviser to the Administrator Alex Dehgan, Environment Officer Kerry Reeves, Teresa Leonardo, Global Climate Change Advisor, and Contracts Officer Technical Representative Teresita Espenilla.

The team was provided with a presentation outlining the Program’s mobile phone banking initiative. As of May 2011, there are some 71 accredited rural banks with over 1,100 branches and other banking offices that are registered to offer mobile phone banking services utilizing the GCASH platform.  These banks have served over 256,000 mobile phone banking clients and customers and have processed more than PhP 12 billion ($ 250 million) in …

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In the NewsLatest UpdatesMABS Tips

Mobile Phone Banking and New Technologies: Providing New Channels to Serve Clients Better, Faster, and 24/7

Alternative ways of delivering banking services are changing the way rural banks are servicing their clients. Not only that, these innovations are also helping the Philippine Government reach families at the bottom of the economic pyramid.

During the 2011 RBAP-MABS National Roundtable Conference, rural banks shared how technology has been useful to them in expanding microfinance services.  As of May 2011, more than 160,000 rural bank clients have processed more than PhP10 billion (US$220 million) in mobile phone banking transactions via the GCASH platform.

Banking practices have been evolving and expanding coverage geographically, as well as in terms of network, client base, and products and services being offered to clients.  Mobile phone banking services were first introduced to rural banks through an effort promoted by the RBAP-MABS program back in 2004.

From left: Lt. Gen. William Hotchkiss III (Ret.) of Cantilan Bank, Ms. Ma. Cecilia Tanael of the Rural Bank of Mabitac, and Ms. Cynthia Rudinas of First Valley Bank

From left: Lt. Gen. William Hotchkiss III (Ret.) of Cantilan Bank, Ms. Ma. Cecilia Tanael of the Rural Bank

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MABS FeaturesMABS Highlights

Conditional Cash Transfer, Rural Banks, and Mobile Money Transfer: Observations and Reflections

In a scene being played out in various places in the country, some of them more remote, over 400 households from four barangays in the municipality of Sogod, Cebu received financial support from the government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) on May 4, 2011.A 5-year program of the Philippine Government, 4Ps provides conditional cash grants for the poorest families in identified municipalities as financial aid for the family’s health and for children’s education. Aside from disbursements through the Land Bank of the Philippines, conditional cash transfers (CCT) are being disbursed too with the involvement of mobile money remittance channels such as rural banks and their mobile phone banking facility.

On May 4, I witnessed the day-long process of how atotal of PhP562,700 ($13,070) was disbursed to 414 beneficiaries composed mainly of women.It was the second cash grant for this group of …

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MABS FeaturesSuccess Stories

The Power of Savings – Rural Miners Open their First Savings Accounts

From Butuan City going north towards Surigao Norte is the town of Tubod, where mining has become a major source of employment to local residents and those in the outlying towns. Hired by labor sub-contractors of the mining company there, the number of miner-laborers peaks during the dry season and declines during the rainy season. The mining site is about five kilometers away from the Cantilan Bank Tubod Branch, which started its operations in 2005.

As is the practice in the mining industry, mining companies operating in Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur outsource their labor requirements to sub-contractors. In some cases, the laborers generally come from outside the local towns. In the case of the mining company in Tubod, more than 50% of the laborers are local residents who work as “casual” laborers in the mine. Since the work is only temporary, there are times when these laborers …

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MABS Features

Mobile money wallets help microentrepreneurs in the Philippines

Microentrepreneurs in a Filipino market are saving time and money by accepting payments using their mobile phones.

Turning sideways to squeeze between the tightly packed stalls, customers stop to admire strings of white, pink, and green pearls displayed by Jamera Macmac and her family. The family runs a pearl business in the bustling Greenhills Shopping Center in Manila, Philippines, where customers seek out their unique designs. After years of managing the business, Ms. Macmac wanted to look for new ways to sell her products. She also grew tired of frequent trips to the bank to deposit cash or send money to family in Mindanao.
The innovative solution was for Ms. Macmac’s customers to pay her using mobile money. This is possible due to the collaboration between USAID’s Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program, the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) and Filipino Mobile Money Issuer G-Xchange Inc. (GXI).  
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Success Stories

Text-A-Withdrawal Makes Access to Mobile Money Easier

Mr. Archiebald “Archie” Beldad owns a pharmacy located in the town center of Cantilan, Surigao del Sur located in rural northeastern Mindanao. As a registered client of Cantilan Bank, a participating bank under the Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program, Archie began using GCASH for business in March 2007. He purchases and sells GCASH in small amounts and accepts GCASH as payment for his goods. He has a good credit record with the bank where he has been maintaining a deposit account for several years. Archie also uses the convenience of the Text-A-Withdrawal facility to withdraw from his deposit account and load up on GCASH.  When he has extra funds in GCASH, he also uses Text-A-Deposit to send money back to deposit in his account remotely.

Archie also helps his customers when they need to convert small amounts of GCASH to cash or cash to GCASH. According to Archie, …

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In the NewsLatest UpdatesPress Releases

Bangko Mabuhay and GCASH serve the mobile money community of Cavite

Bangko Mabuhay together with G-Xchange Inc. (GXI), a wholly-owned mobile commerce subsidiary of Globe Telecom, brings the benefits of mobile money and convenient remittance pay-out options in Cavite.

Using the GCASH platform, its branches serve as cash-in and cash-out facilities for customers who would like to take advantage of the convenience that mobile money transfer offers. Bangko Mabuhay is also an active pay-out outlet for GCASH REMIT, cash pick-up remittance service under GXI.

Bangko Mabuhay, registered as Rural Bank of Tanza (Cavite), Inc., has over P900M in assets serving thousands of clients in the province.…

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