Globe revolutionizes cashless commerce

MANILA, Philippines - Riding a cab or having food delivered straight to your doorstep without cash? These will all soon be possible after Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. revolutionized the concept of mobile payment and cashless commerce.

With the Globe Charge, commuters and consumers need not worry about hailing a cab or having food delivered even if they forgot to withdraw cash from automated teller machines (ATMs).

 Peter Bithos, chief operating advisor of Globe , said the company through its wholly-owned subsidiary G-Xchange Inc. (GXI) has launched Globe Charge that transforms mobile phones into point-of-sale (POS) card terminals that accept debit and credit card payments.

 Bithos said the innovative solution for mobile payment and cashless commerce would change customer experience by allowing them to avail of food delivery services and even cashless taxi rides.

 â€œEvery taxi driver will be equipped with Globe Charge and even food delivery wherein you always have to pay in cash,” he said.

 GXI, the operator of GCash and Globe myBusiness, is making available Globe Charge that harnesses the integration of a smartphone and an innovative mobile card reader into a mobile-point of sales (POS) unit.

Martha Sazon, senior vice president for Globe myBusiness, said in an interview that Globe Charge would empower small and medium businesses (SMBs) with a convenient payment device.

Sazon said the service would eliminate the need for traditional and more expensive card terminals as SMBs would not longer have to shell out an outright cash of P30,000 and maintain a monthly sales average of P50,000.

“Being the only one of its kind in the market, Globe Charge is primed to be a game-changing service for SMBs. It will allow businesses, most specially the startup entrepreneurs, to get started right away and accept local and international MasterCard and soon, Visa credit and debit cards,” she added.

Furthermore, she said merchants would enjoy better rates and deals compared to banks and would receive the settlement as early as the next business day by connecting via WiFi or mobile data for free using a Globe/TM Sim.”

“Globe Charge will enable SMBs to offer more payment options, which would mean more customers, increased sales and business growth, and on a larger scale, create a wonderful economic environment for the country,” she added.

For his part, GXI president Paolo Baltao said the company sees the new service as a major revenue driver as it is looking into covering debit and even ATM cards on top of credit cards that only has a nine-percent penetration rate in the Philippines.

“We are growing to market substantially and we are looking at this as a major revenue pillar,” Baltao explained.

He pointed out that Globe again brings the synergy of mobile technology and cashless commerce into an entirely new dimension with Globe Charge.

“With just a mobile card reader plugged into a smartphone or tablet, Globe Charge will open up more opportunities for business growth and payment generation for any form of trade which accepts cashless transactions through credit and debit card payments, particularly MasterCard, and very soon, Visa,” he said.

He assured customers that the card-based transactions would be easy, convenient, and secure.

“Globe is known for better rates and better deals. Globe Charge has been certified by the credit card association of the Philippines and we have our own set of security measures to monitor breaches,” he said.