Technology Project Profiles

GCash

About the project

GXI, a subsidiary of Globe Telecom, is offering mobile payment services in three rural and low-income island provinces targeting over 100,000 people. The effort is also aimed at improving understanding of customer adoption trends regarding use of mobile wallets for storing money.

Globe Telecom is working with CGAP to create payments ecosystems with multiple agent locations for people to transact with GCash, a prepaid money transfer service. Through intensive marketing, targeted customer education, and rapid sign-up and accreditation of retailers, the project brings mobile phone-based payments and money transfer services for the first time to three predominantly low-income rural provinces: Surigao, Bohol, and Palawan.

While it is not uncommon to find four or five remittance services in a town of 10,000 to 20,000 people, those services do not cater to the needs of the poorest who have unpredictable sources of income and may need to remit more frequently. Today they use jeepney and truck drivers to send money, which is time consuming, not always secure and costly in the event of loss. CGAP’s project with Globe seeks to reach poor people on remote island provinces who need cheaper, more convenient, and more secure money transfer and payment services.

Status of project

Since the beginning of the project, GXI has opened over 120,000 new GCash accounts in the three target provinces, exceeding original targets set by CGAP and GXI. Accounts have been used to send money domestically among other payment services. GXI also added another 200 agents to the three locations since March 2009. 

For more information please write to us at technology@cgap.org.