Mobile money interoperability in the Philippines took a step forward with the successful integration of the digital payments mobile apps operated by the nation's two mobile operators.
Paymaya Philippines, the digital financial services arm of PLDT and Smart, has integrated its PayMaya app with with Globe Telecom’s mobile money service GCash, as part of efforts to boost the local digital commerce ecosystem.
With the interoperability in place, users of the PayMaya app can soon send funds to users of other mobile money systems, including GCash, and vice-versa.
The interoperability agreement is part of an initiative of the GSMA and the Philippine Central Bank aimed at making mobile money services more inclusive and accessible to more people in the country.
“This development comes on the heels of the launch of the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) Framework in December led by the BSP and fully supported by the industry, which aims to create a 'safe, efficient, reliable, and affordable electronic retail payment system that is interconnected and interoperable',” said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. in a statement.
Aside from domestic remittances, GCash and PayMaya are also expected to collaborate on merchant payments, bulk payments, government-to-person payments (G2P), and person-to-government payments (P2G), among others.
“We are confident that more consumers would be more open to adopt mobile money services if they can send cash to anybody regardless of what mobile provider they are using especially if this means more efficient services and lower prices,” John Rubio, President and CEO of Mynt, a fully-owned financial services subsidiary of Globe, said in a media statement. Mynt is also the mother company of G-Xchange, Inc. which operates GCash.
Through Paymaya and GCash, customers no longer need to own a credit card or even have a bank account to make financial and e-commerce transactions.
Paymaya was launched in August 2015 as a virtual Visa card that resides in a mobile app, allowing people to purchase online, send money and send prepaid mobile credit. Soon, it plans to allow users to pay bills online and do other types of transactions. A physical card can be linked to the virtual card for use for purchases in physical stores and pay for train rides.
GCash was launched in 2004 as a micropayment service. It transforms a mobile phone into a virtual wallet for safe, secure, and hassle-free mobile money transactions such as the purchase of prepaid load, bills payment, money remittance, donations, online shopping, among others.