The case of the Philippines' over 70 million mobile phone subscribers is a curious one. While they have catapulted the small Southeast Asian nation as the world's text messaging capital, the market is traditionally constrained by low credit card ownership that hampers full participation in today's digital life.
Purchasing mobile apps, for one, requires a credit card and not having one is a setback not only for the end user but for service providers always on the lookout for new revenue streams and higher levels of customer engagement.
At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Globe Telecom launched a customer strategy for the unbanked -- paying for mobile apps and other Web goods through GCash, its internationally acclaimed micro payment service that transforms a mobile phone into a virtual wallet for money transfers at the speed and cost of a text message.
"We are set to break that barrier (less than 5% credit card penetration) and allow every single Filipino the ability to buy from the Web without a credit card and without being linked up to the traditional mechanisms of the financial services ecosystem," Peter Bithos, Globe Telecom's Senior Adviser for Consumer Business.
While the GCash service has been in place now for many years and has more than a million users, its main use is for sending money person to person and for purchasing prepaid airtime loads.
"The challenge is in dealing with the customer experience," Bithos said. "We all enjoy the free apps to some degree but the paid apps is an enjoyment that millions cannot enjoy because they do not have credit cards."
To start off the service, Globe has partnered with RIM to allow Globe subscribers using BlackBerry devices to charge purchases for mobile applications from the BlackBerry App World onto their monthly-postpaid bill or prepaid account credits. The new service is expected to roll out in the second quarter this year.
This month, Globe is also launching the GCash mobile app for Apple iPhones, which will make it more convenient for users to do GCASH transactions like sending money, buying load and paying bills.