Tag: Smart Money

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Opportunities for Rural Banks to Use Smart Money to Expand Branchless Banking Services

This is the third of a four part series of articles about the RBAP-MABS National Roundtable 2012 Conference panel session entitled “Using New Channels to Expand Microfinance Services.” Or, more simply put, the benefits of today’s mobile banking and online transactions. A model that has been proven so successful and implemented on almost every online business. Online casinos are the best proof of online banking and will reward you with free cash bonuses up to $100 to play the best real money casino games for free.

Mr. Jun Perez of SEEDFINANCE explained how their partnership with SMART in the Island Activation Program supports empowerment through mobile banking. SEEDFINANCE is a wholesale microfinance provider that works with retailers to provide financial and technical assistance. The Island Activation Program (IAP) specifically targets remote communities and helps develop mobile-based financial services in these under-served areas. The partnership among microfinance institutions, SMART, …

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RBAP Launches Smart Money Accreditation Course for Rural Bankers in Luzon

The Rural Bankers Research Development Foundation, Inc.  in partnership with Smart Communications Inc. and the USAID-supported Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines-Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) Program and partner Seed Finance held the 2nd SMART Money Accreditation Training Course for twenty-seven (27) participants from nine (9) rural banks based in Luzon on March 9, 2012.

The course was designed for qualified rural banks seeking to obtain accreditation as a Smart Money Center in order to offer money-in and money-out services, facilitate distribution of Smart Money Cards, and eventually to offer mobile phone banking services utilizing the Smart Money Platform.  This accreditation training provides the rural banks with the RBAP-MABS mobile phone banking procedures and manuals required to comply with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) electronic banking regulations for the use of mobile phone banking services utilizing the Smart Money platform.  As part of the accreditation process, banks still …

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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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MABS Highlights

RBAP-MABS and Smart Money expand RB Mabitac’s mobile money transfer services

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 …

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MABS Features

RBAP plans for big time mobile phone banking services expansion this 2010

The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) projects a substantial increase in mobile phone banking services this year as G-Xchange, Inc. (GXI) plans to activate Globe Telecom’s nationwide sub distributer network of over 18,000 cash-in and cash-out outlets.

Combined with the mobile phone banking services developed by USAID-supported RBAP-MABS program, this will provide the rural banks with a virtual ATM network that more than doubles the current count of about 8,000.  “We see this as an opportunity to leapfrog the rural banking sector’s outreach in the countryside and we are gearing up to accomplish this in 2010,” said RBAP President Joseph Omar Andaya.  

RBAP also has an application pending with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to utilize its own closed-loop merchant network. This network will provide cash-in and cash-out locations for RBAP banks’ clients in areas that the sub distributor network does not reach. “We are confident that we …

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