Wednesday, February 21, 2007 Smart to launch remittance platform in Middle East, EU
SMART Communications Inc. announced last week that it will soon launch pilot projects in the Middle East and Europe to offer low-cost remittance services using its mobile phone-based financial services platform.
Called the Smart Services Hub, the platform will enable mobile operators and banks to serve the remittance needs of migrant populations in their respective countries. Through the platform, migrant workers will be able to send remittances to their countries via SIM-based services anytime, anywhere — all at the speed of a text message.
“This innovative service will give overseas workers, initially Filipinos, the power of choice. Using their mobile phones, they can send home money in the amounts they wish whenever they want and wherever they may be at a more affordable cost,” said Napoleon Nazareno, Smart president and chief executive officer in the Leadership Summit of the World 3GSMA Congress held in Barcelona, Spain.
“For our partner banks and operators, this will enable them to offer robust and secure mobile phone-based remittance services in a cost and time-efficient manner and thus allow them to serve the growing market of migrant workers,” he added.
Global money
Smart’s initiatives are part of the global money transfer program (GMMT) of the GSM Association. Supported by 19 of the world’s leading mobile operators, this program aims to create a money transfer solution that will take advantage of the pervasiveness of mobile phone networks worldwide to lower the cost of remittances.
Through the Smart Services Hub, mobile operators in the country where the transactions originate can offer menu-based services that enable their migrant subscribers to use their mobile phones to remit funds drawn from accounts in a partner bank.
The transaction goes through an authorization, clearing and settlement process that allows the funds to be deposited in an account in a partner bank in the receiving country or in an electronic wallet linked to the recipient’s mobile phone. Both the sender and recipient will be notified via a text message that the remittance transaction has been completed.
In the Middle East, Smart’s pilot is in the Gulf state of Bahrain. It aims to initially serve Filipino overseas workers and their families.
It is working with MTC Vodafone Bahrain of the MTC Group, one of the leading mobile phone groups in the region with over 24.9 million subscribers in the Middle East and Africa. Smart is also firming up a partnership with a leading regional bank based in Bahrain.
In Europe, Smart is pursuing a similar arrangement with a telecom company and a bank in Italy.
In cooperation with the GSM Association, Smart will also conduct a pilot with MasterCard as an authorization, clearing and settlement partner.
“We are confident that this initiative will give rise to viable businesses for all the parties involved. At the same time, we will deliver an innovative service that will help make life easier for migrant and overseas workers’ communities in many countries,” said Nazareno.
About 10 million Filipinos today live overseas in nearly 200 countries and territories. In 2006, they remitted $14 billion through official channels, not counting the several billions more being sent through informal means.
The GMMT was one of the key initiatives announced during the GSMA Leadership Summit last week.
GSMA president Rob Conway said migrant populations could benefit enormously if pervasive mobile networks are tapped to deliver affordable and convenient remittance services. He added that this could raise the amount of remittances worldwide from about $250 billion to as high as one trillion dollars.
Since 2000, Smart has been actively promoting mobile commerce usage in the Philippines through various services that run on the Smart Money platform.
These services include the award-winning Smart Money, the world’s first electronic wallet card linked to a mobile phone which won the 2001 3GSM award for “most innovative GSM wireless service for customers.” (PR)
