ON AVERAGE, Filipinos take 22 minutes to reach the nearest financial service centers for their transactions. According to data from the first National Baseline Survey on Financial Inclusion released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last year, this averages at P43 in fares round trip.
Bridging the hassles of travel, time, and effort comes Smart Padala (the remittance brand of PayMaya Philippines, formerly the Smart eMoney, Inc.) and its newest campaign called “Padalapit,” a business strategy that taps sari-sari (neighborhood variety stores) to become Smart Padala centers.
With 15,000 nationwide Smart Padala centers, plus a country with mobile penetration of 117%, financial access and transactions are but a text away.
“Padalapit” aims to lessen users’ travel time and transportation cost while empowering small entrepreneurs and their sari-sari stores by turning them into money transfer centers for remittance.
“What has further grown is the increasing use of mobile [phone] as a tool for socio-economic progress. From just being a tool for communications, the use of mobile for financial services is helping individuals, families, businesses, and communities,” Benjie Fernandez, co-COO of PayMaya Philippines and COO of Voyager Innovations, said in a statement. Voyager Innovations is the digital innovations arm of PLDT and its wireless unit, Smart Communications, Inc.
He said anyone can be a Smart Padala partner. The requirements are only cellular phone and basic business documentary requirements.
Smart Padala lets its users to receive or send money within the country or abroad regardless of their mobile network. Centers only require a valid ID for transactions and a minimum amount of P300.
The National Baseline Survey on Financial Inclusion said approximately 44% of Filipinos send money to their families (91%) and friends (6%), for food (71%), education (39%), medical expenses (28%), and emergency (22%) purposes.
“Opportunities in this industry (small-scale enterprises) remain huge as there is a still vast need to service the gaps for the unbanked and uncarded Filipinos… We hope to drive financial inclusion as we also grow our business,” added Orlando B. Vea, president and CEO of PayMaya Philippines and Voyager Innovations.
According to the 2015 Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data, seven in 10 Filipinos are still unbanked.
Managing Director and co-COO of PayMaya Philippines Paolo Azzola also noted that it is looking into the possibility of using the service for bill payments for Meralco, Maynilad, and Cignal.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Adeluis Antovic Bordado
