Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Smart, NCB to launch int'l remittance via Smart Money (10:58 a.m.)
MANILA -- Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) the country's leading wireless provider has teamed up with National Commercial Bank (NCB), the largest bank in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and in the entire Middle East, to jointly launch an international remittance service utilizing the Smart Money platform.
The Quick Pay Remittance Service, NCB remittance offering, will utilize Smart Money as the beneficiary account for funds sent to the Philippines, providing a convenient, secure, and cost-effective remittance alternative for over 1.2 million Filipinos in Saudi Arabia.
KSA-based Filipinos may send funds directly to their beneficiary's Smart Money account through NCB various Quick Pay Remittance Service channels -- phone banking, internet banking (Alahli Online), remittance centers, cash deposit machines, over-the-counter transactions at any of NCB 266 branches, and fund transfers via the bank's more than 1,000 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
"The exclusive business partnership between Smart and NCB for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is very strategic as it boosts Smart efforts to offer mobile money transfer services in various regions of the world particularly in the Middle East where there are large numbers of Filipinos," said Napoleon Nazareno, Smart President and chief executive officer (CEO).
The process is simple, the client has to indicate the Smart Money account number as the beneficiary account of the remittance.
Transfer of funds will then commence at the speed and convenience of a text message.
Funds from the successful cash transfer to the receiving Smart Money account may be withdrawn from over 7,000 ATMs in the Philippines, more than 100 Smart Wireless Centers and thousands of third-party Smart Money fulfillment partners across the country.
The channels are open to all NCB account holders while non-account holders may opt to send funds via NCB remittance centers in Saudi Arabia.
NCB is the largest bank in terms of capital in the region with total assets amounting to SR208.7 billion (US$55.7 billion) and total paid-up capital of SR15.0 billion (US$4.0 billion).
As of December 2007, NCB total customers surpassed the 2-million mark, approximately 15 percent of which is comprised of Filipino payroll accounts.
Smart Money is the world's first reloadable electronic wallet card linked to a mobile phone. Through Smart Money, Filipinos abroad may send remittances to their loved ones in the Philippines, all at the speed of text message. (MSN/Sunnex) |
