GlobeTels G-Cash service to tap "sari-sari" stores

Soon, Globe Telecom's G-Cash value added service will be made available in sari-sari stores as one of its distribution network channels, to capture majority of the Filipino consumers.

This revolutionary technology G-Cash transforms phones into "mobile wallets," using SMS capabilities to allow users to send money phone-to-phone, buy goods and services, and even receive micro-financing and international remittance.

Meantime, the company is adopting a strong awareness campaign for students to embrace this next generation payment system, through partnering schools and universities to accept G-Cash payments for tuition fees, among others.

Globe Telecom head for business development Jose Roberto Mendoza said following the success of electronic load system for mobile phones, G-Cash will also tap other retail channels, especially the sari-sari stores.

This means, that even purchasing small commodities or claiming money remittance service can be done in the neighborhood already.

This one-year-old G-Cash value added service has already attracted about 2 million registered users around the country.

Mendoza said the company is aiming to get 30 percent of the 13 million Globe users to embrace this new payment evolution, which promote cashless payment system, and easy accessibility of money remittance system.

Its priority right now, he stressed is to tap the next generation consumer base, who are the students, thus Globe G-Cash has entered into partnership with over 200 universities and colleges across the country.

Currently, Globe has over 3,000 partner establishments, which accept G-Cash transactions, not only in the domestic ground, but also in 17 countries worldwide.

This new service is hitting a double-edged target as aside from exposing the service to the Filipino students, it is actively touching ground with the growing Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to use G-Cash for its monthly remittance to the Philippines.

In Cebu, students can already transact their payments via G-Cash in University of Cebu, Southwestern University, and University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R). He added that the company is moving towards partnering more schools in Cebu to effectively tap the next generation consumers.

Without opening a bank account, a Globe subscriber can just go to a Globe Business Center and load his/her G-Cash account for a cashless payment transaction.

He stressed that G-Cash is a life-changing payment system innovation, making a mobile phone an all-in-one gadget, from communication needs, to financial requirements.

Mendoza said Globe is still developing a good system to effectively tap the neighborhood retail channels, like the sari-sari stores, convenience stores, among others.

"We are moving into developing user communities for G-Cash," Mendoza said in his recent visit to Cebu.

G-Cash was picked as the "Best Mobile Messaging Service" during the awards held as part of the 3GSM Congress, an annual gathering of top executives and major players in the global telecommunications industry.

But apart from the innovative features it offered to customers, Globe executives said the ability of G-cash to penetrate certain areas of commerce that were previously unserved made its acceptance easy and widespread.

Since its launch in October last year, the amount of money that has flowed in G-Cash transactions has already reached $2.5 million. Globe is averaging 7-10 registrations for G-Cash per day.