Smart, rural banks formally launch mobile commerce services tie-up

Smart Communications has formally launched a partnership with the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) to provide its mobile commerce services to 696 RBAP-member banks all over the Philippines. 

The collaboration between Smart and RBAP will utilize the award-winning Smart Money platform to extend fast, secure and accessible mobile-based communication and financial solutions to the growing network of rural banks in the country. 

Smart Money is the world’s first reloadable electronic wallet card linked to a mobile phone. Through Smart Money, RBAP clients may transmit funds all at the speed of a text message.

 “We are pleased to collaborate with the RBAP in reaching out to the rural populace. By liberalizing access to Smart’s tried and tested mobile commerce innovations and solutions, we are optimistic that our partnership will enable us to reach out to more unbanked and underbanked Filipinos in the countryside, and even around the world,” Smart chief wireless advisor Orlando Vea said.  

“The RBAP welcomes this partnership with Smart as it will provide RBAP and our member rural banks with more and better opportunities to enhance our services to our clientele. Smart’s advanced mobile commerce technology combined with RBAP’s strong countryside network, will provide our customers with a fast, secure, and efficient way of transmitting funds anytime, anywhere,” RBAP president Tomas Gomez IV added. 

The Smart-RBAP partnership will enable rural bank depositors and borrowers to perform financial transactions, including loan disbursement and payments, with just a few clicks on their mobile phones. The very first engagement for the partnership is to accredit rural banks as Smart Money Centers, enabling them to convert electronic cash in the Smart Money wallet, into physical cash and vise versa. 

Smart and RBAP also agreed to cooperate in developing additional products and services to address the diverse requirements of RBAP member rural banks and their customers. 

“We have designed our mobile commerce platform to work closely with financial ecosystems, particularly banks and financial institutions,” according to Reynante Banico, head of Smart Services Hub. “By sealing this partnership, RBAP member rural banks now join the ranks of our esteemed Smart Money partners, allowing them to reach over 34 million Smart subscribers; to connect to the country’s more than 7,000 automated teller machines; and to access more than 100 Smart Wireless Centers and thousands of MasterCard and Smart Money fulfillment partners across the country and all over the world,” he added.

 “Clients of rural banks who are Smart subscribers can now also enjoy the benefits of mobile phone banking services delivered through the combined strengths of Smart and the large rural bank network. With this MOU signing between RBAP and Smart, we are certain that rural banks will continue to be at the forefront of technology-driven financial services not only in the Philippines but around the world,” according to John Owens, chief of party of the RBAP-MABS program that is supported by USAID. 

The Smart-RBAP partnership is envisioned to complement the successful launch and roll-out of Smart’s Microfinance Program which aims to provide seamless and efficient mobile commerce solutions for microfinance institutions (MFIs) and the varying needs of clients coming from lower income segment of Philippine society. 

RBAP is comprised of 696 member rural banks with more than 2,100 branches nationwide.