THE mobile-banking industry is expected to see “greater integration” in the coming years, as more and more banks introduce their own digital services, and this, an industry player said, will result in greater financial inclusion in the long run.
Joseph Lim, a vice president at Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), said mobile-banking services may be more prevalent in the coming years, as more and more banks integrate their services in the digital space through partnerships with electronic money issuers such as GCash.
“In general, they are going to bring more of these services online, and we’re going to see greater integration moving forward—and that’s something that excites us because we see ourselves as a partner of banks to bring financial services to everyone,” he said.
Just this Friday, Mynt, the digital financial services arm of Globe Telecom Inc., unveiled a new service that allows users to transfer funds from their GCash wallet to banks listed in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-led (BSP) Instapay portal.
There are over 30 banks that are included in the new service, which virtually removes the need to queue for a banking transaction, as fund transfers can now be done digitally.
“Fund transfers used to be a long, bogging process where customers will just wait for their turn on the cashier just to have money delivered onto another account. With GCash’s new feature, over 15 million customers can now transfer funds to more than 30 banks for free, and without taking hours,” Mynt President Anthony Thomas said.
He said fund transfers are an integral part of the Philippine financial ecosystem, as it is used for sending money for personal purposes such as for family needs, bills payments, or even paying online sellers for products ordered on social-media platforms.
GCash is pushing for the development of the e-money industry in the Philippines, as it aims to help the Central Bank reach its target of migrating 20 percent of financial transactions to noncash means by 2020.