ECPay partners, customers increase

MANILA, Philippines — Globe Telecom’s multi-payment platform Electronic Commerce Payments Inc. (ECPay) saw a significant expansion in digital merchant partners, biller portfolio and customers as the pandemic forces many Filipinos to shift to digital channels.

Globe said digital merchant partners of ECPays rose from April to July, resulting in a 114 percent increase in the number of customers reached via mobile apps for eMoney, banking, lending, as well as payment vending machines.

The service currently has direct access to about 27 million customers nationwide using various digital channels.

ECPay also has 560 unique merchant partners with physical stores with a reach of 25,000 outlets nationwide.

Globe said ECPay’s biller portfolio has also grown from 286 to 345 unique billers, expanding ECPay’s total portfolio to 2,872 billers.

The growth, it said, came from billers engaged in loans, water, electric cooperatives, cable and internet, schools, and courier services.

“We are seeing the public’s growing willingness to adopt the digital lifestyle and we are glad to be able to support them by providing convenience through various touch points that may be closer to our customers and easier to get to for bills payment, cash-in services, and purchase of electronic load. We now have a good mix of traditional and digital channels that we enable with the one-stop shop proposition,” ECPay CEO Jasmin Montelibano said.

Globe said ECPay also continues to work on improving its backend operations and providing better tools for its workforce to allow the company the flexibility to adapt to various working models under the “new normal.”

The Ayala-led telco in October last year acquired 77 percent equity interest in ECPay for approximately P1.54 billion.

The acquisition was expected to add value to Globe’s distribution channels, while providing small business owners a platform to offer more products and services.

ECPay is a company engaged in the provision of information technology and electronic commerce related solutions, and operates a multi-tiered platform that offers secure electronic solutions for various transactions such as load purchases.