Volume of e-money deals up 9% to P513.8 B in H1

MANILA, Philippines — Electronic money transactions rose 8.9 percent to P513.8 billion in the first half of the year from P471.7 billion in the same period last year on the back of enabling regulatory environment, rising number of providers and aggressive marketing.

Melchor Plabasan, deputy director and head of the core informational technology specialist group at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), said the volume of transactions surged 56.5 percent to 289.24 million from January to June this year from a year-ago level of 184.79 million.

He said electronic money issues (EMIs) are undertaking aggressive marketing campaigns to ramp up additional adoption of e-money through social media.

He added EMIs are also partnering with big corporates and providing freebies, rebates and rewards.

The regulator has so far issued EMI licenses to 41 companies, consisting of 30 banks and 11 non-banks.

Plabasan said the adoption of financial technology in delivering financial products and services has prompted the central bank to grant of more EMI licenses.

In 2004, the BSP first used this “test-and-learn” approach to engage e-money pioneers as G-Cash and Smart Money were allowed to pilot e-money products.

This allowed the BSP to issue the regulatory framework governing the issuance of e-money and the operations of EMIs in March 2009.

Banks continue to take advantage of opportunities from utilizing digital technology in financial transactions.

Technology has become an integral part of financial services amid growing number of clients who prefer products and services that can be accessed in the comfort of their homes or via electronic services.