Mobile commerce service taps social networking craze

When mobile commerce was introduced locally in the early 2000s, it was the remittance service that primarily drove the Filipino’s adoption of low-value electronic payment transactions on cellphones. Now, one of the country’s leading mobile commerce providers has taken the first step to cash in on the popularity of social networking Web sites, especially Facebook, to drum up additional business. Yesterday, Globe Telecom Inc., through wholly-owned mobile commerce subsidiary G-Xchange Inc. (GXI), announced a partnership with BOKU, Inc., a San Francisco, California-based payments provider. BOKU has reportedly partnered with 190 carriers worldwide, with a presence in 60 countries. The deal will allow Globe’s G-cash users to purchase virtual goods from any merchant in BOKU’s global network of more than 1,000, which include among others popular Facebook applications such as Farmville and Restaurant City. The service, which will use BOKU’s "Paymo" scheme, is scheduled to become available in two weeks. Both firms claim it as a Philippine first and expect to build on the deal. BOKU sees its entry into the Philippines as a means to test faster and more convenient ways to purchase virtual goods in the online gaming world, and in the future including services such as e-book purchases. "We think right now there is a real underserved market for young people who don’t have credit cards in many countries but do have mobile phones. So it is an easy way to pay online," said Paul McGuire, BOKU senior vice-president for business development. Facebook alone, he said, has some 10 million Filipino users. Mr. McGuire added that compared to the US and in Europe, the allowed transaction amounts in a given day using mobile phones are "higher" and the revenue sharing schemes with carriers "better" in more developed markets in Asia such as the Philippines. "So [here] I think its possible to move really quickly in 12-24 months towards online digital goods such as books," he said. For Globe, it sees the partnership as helping add value to the G-cash wallet and strengthening its presence on the Web. Globe claims 1.2 million G-cash users and transactions averaging P3.6-4 billion per month. "Through this, there will be users in our base who will use it more and we will also be able to attract new users," GXI President Rizza Maniego-Eala said. Aside from remittance transactions, Globe’s G-Cash and Smart Money of rival Smart Communications, Inc. are being used to buy goods and services from accredited partner establishments or exchange stored value for cash in designated outlets. A Smart representative said BOKU had also approached the firm and there were now "negotiations for other types of services that are suited for larger base of users". The Smart representative claimed the Smart Money service had eight million users to date. -- Maricel E. Estavillo, BusinessWorld