Smart Money wins int’l awards

Wireless services leader Smart Communications has won two more international awards for its pioneering electronic payments service called Smart Money MasterCard Electronic.

In its annual Asia-Pacific marketing awards held in Australia’s Gold Coast last week, MasterCard International cited Smart Money as the Best Product Innovation out of entries submitted by MasterCard members in 13 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. These included Australia, China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore.

Smart Money Electronic also received a citation from the global payments leaders as finalist for the "Best Television Advertising" category, a distinction equivalent to first runner-up prize. The said television commercial shows how the product can be used for making remote purchases.

"These are two more feathers in the cap of the Philippine telecommunications industry," said Smart president and CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno. "It highlights once more that Philippine telecom companies are well-positioned to develop world-class innovations, particularly in the field of wireless services."

"Smart Money is a powerful platform on which we are building more innovative services that will allow our customers to enjoy new levels of payment convenience and quality service," added Anastacio R. Martirez, Smart’s head of personal communications and mobile services.

Developed in partnership with MasterCard International and 1st eBank, Smart Money MasterCard Electronic is the world’s only electronic cash card linked to a mobile phone.

It first won international recognition during this year’s annual meeting of the world GSM Association in Cannes, Frances in February where Smart Money was cited as the "Most Innovative Wireless GSM Service for Customers."

As a payments card, Smart Money can be used to pay for goods and services in the over 20,000 MasterCard Electronic establishments in the country. When use in combination with a Smart cellular phone, Smart Money functions like an "electronic wallet" with unmatched, innovative features.

Introduced in December 2000, Smart Money MasterCard Electronic has been steadily gaining acceptance in the Philippines and now has several hundred thousand Smart Money cardholders.

The service, the first of its kind in the world, has also attracted growing interest from banks and telecom companies overseas. According to Nazareno, Smart is currently exploring various proposals to apply Smart Money in neighboring countries.