Global mobile phone group funds Smart move to serve remote areas

MANILA, Philippines - The GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade association of mobile phone operators, has provided Smart Communications Inc. with funding assistance to enable the company deliver mobile commerce solutions to remote rural communities in the country.

As the only Philippine telco and one of four global operators to receive the Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) fund, Smart will channel the fund to roll out its Island Activations Program in areas that have limited or no access to financial services.

The other international operators which will receive similar MMU grants are AXIS in Indonesia, Oi in Brazil and Roshan in Afghanistan.

In 2008, Smart completed a successful pilot test of the Island Activations Program in Polillo Island, Quezon when the island’s financial channels were cut off. The only rural bank had gone bankrupt, while the telegraphic transfer center ceased operations. The nearest bank was three hours away by boat. Smart, together with the local cooperative, RHUDARDA Multi-Purpose Cooperative (RMPC), established a Smart Money Center, allowing island residents to perform mobile money transfers through their Smart mobile phones. The solution also enabled people to perform e-load purchases, bill and utility payments and other micro purchases, all through a few clicks on the mobile phone.

The Island Activations Program aims to maximize opportunities for island-based micro-finance institutions (MFIs), enabling them to deliver mobile commerce to expanded markets. The program will be replicated in 40 other islands in the remote parts of the Philippines. Its implementation will be in partnership with Seed Finance, a credit provider to MFIs and small enterprises, and several other MFI network organizations like MFI Councils in Mindanao, Caraga and Bicol.

“As the country’s leading wireless services provider, we are in a unique position to build ecosystems that are enabled by Smart products and services,” Smart president Napoleon Nazareno said.

He added that such ecosystems can bring exceptional benefits to their MFI partners and to the country’s poor and underserved communities, and can help uplift the lives of many people.

GSMA director Gavin Krugelo said these programs will not only provide mobile money services to the unbanked, but will also have the ability to enhance the way whole communities live and carry out business by helping them achieve stability, economic growth and fostering entrepreneurial opportunities.

“I am delighted to be working with these and other pioneering companies as we continue to strive to build financial security and an identity for the most disadvantaged in our society and work towards our goal of reaching 20 million unbanked people with mobile services by 2012,” he said.

For his part, Smart chief wireless advisor Orlando Vea pointed out that the Island Activations Program will enable them to help spur economic growth and create entrepreneurial opportunities for poor, unserved and underserved communities.