PH mobile financial services growing leaps and bounds

Amdocs projects a strong growth in mobile banking in the Philippines as mobile financial services (MFS) are more universally offered or practiced across the country. Amdocs Vice President for Mobile Financial Services Justin Ho said the use of mobile money is a more effective way of reaching the country’s unbanked and underbanked sector.

Amdocs, he said, is a market leader in software solutions and services for the world’s largest communications, entertainment and media service providers.

He said, “Using MFS is three times cheaper than using a bank branch. The mobile financial service is the way to go. Banks and telecommunication companies can both participate in its success,” he recently said at a news conference on the subject.

When asked about regulatory concerns on MFS, he replied, “The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has been inclusive and helpful in terms of providing the right regulation to promote MFS. It’s always open to adopt and welcome new ideas.” He added that the Philippines has a central bank that cares about financial inclusion unlike other central banks in the world He said the MFS penetration in the Philippines is no longer in infancy.

“In the next five years, that [MFS] will be mainstreamed,” he said.

“Banks of today are more advanced technologically but still siloed. We wanted digital. We provide mobile money.  “We have an MFS platform which is the most advanced,” he said.

Ho said people can put their domestic remittance in mobile money and use it to pay bills.

The salary of certain people may be dispensed via mobile money platforms and the government’s cash-transfer program may also be conducted using electronic wallets. He said such often underserved people like farmers who use so-called electronic wallets can keep track of their digital footprint. He also noted some 25 percent or 28 percent of Filipinos live below the poverty line and that financial inclusion is important to get people above the poverty line.

He cited a World Bank report which showed 69 percent of the population are unbanked Filipinos. They patronize loan sharks and pay more than 300 percent for the accommodation.

He also cited another survey in the Philippines which showed 38 percent of the Filipinos saying it’s easy to pay cash, 38 percent having privacy issues, while 27 percent do not know how to use the MFS.

He said 54 percent of the people surveyed trust banks and that a large chunk or 31 percent said they trust mobile banks.

-- Business Mirror