Smart Communications, a wireless service provider in the Philippines, reportedly has partnered with mHIT, an Australian mobile payment service developer and operator, to facilitate mobile money transfers and remittances for Filipinos in Australia. MHIT’s “mobile wallet” service will now include Smart Money, a service of Smart Communications, allowing mHIT clients that use its mobile remittance services will be able to send money via short message service (also known as SMS or text messaging) to the approximately 50 million Smart Communications subscribers in the Philippines. Senders need only the mobile phone number of the recipient in order to send money; recipients do not need a bank account. Once the money is transferred, users can access it directly from their mobile wallet or withdraw it at automated teller machines (ATMs) or Smart Money service centers.
Smart Communications also reportedly partnered with Beneficial Life Insurance (BenLife), a Philippine life insurance provider, to offer a mobile microinsurance service called Insuretxt. The service covers accidents and loss of life in amounts ranging from PHP 10,000 (USD 238) to PHP 50,000 (USD 1,190) with a monthly premium of PHP 3 (USD 0.07) to PHP 9 (USD 0.21). All standard transactions, including registration, payment and renewal, can be done via text message.
For fiscal year 2011, Smart Communications reported total assets of PHP 395 million (USD 9.4 million).
By Charlotte Newman, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources:
PhilStar: “Smart forges remittance, microinsurance tie-ups,” http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=837758&publicationSubCategoryId=74
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MicroCapital.org story, June 21, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: USAID, Citi to Bring Mobile Money Technology to Colombia, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, the Philippines,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-usaid-citi-to-bring-mobile-money-technology-to-colombia-haiti-indonesia-kenya-the-philippines/
MicroCapital.org story, May 30, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Smart Communications, Microfinance Council of the Philippines to Extend Mobile Banking Services Through ‘Smart Money’ Platform,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-smart-communications-microfinance-council-of-the-philippines-to-extend-mobile-banking-services-through-%E2%80%9Csmart-money%E2%80%9D-platform/
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