Go cashless, Alibaba founder urges PH

  • Page Views 4241
  • Chinese technology billionaire and Alibaba founder  Jack Ma yesterday said the Philippines has the opportunity to embrace advance payment systems such as electronic commerce and electronic payment due to the prevalence of mobile phones.

    Ma, in an open forum at the  De La Salle University, said with wide penetration of mobile phone, the Philippines can become a cashless society where there is “no corruption (and) life is easy.”

    Ma also urged  small and medium enterprises which comprise 99 percent of the  businesses in the Philippines to adopt technology to sustain business growth and expand globally.

    Ma said the old economy should not be scared to change and adopt to technology, adding that change would make a difference in their companies in the first two to three years.

    “The old economy should not fear but (it) should change immediately … I’ve been doing that in China for many years , telling people (of) the new business model…, “ Ma said .

    Ant Financial Group a company owned by  Ma is expected to extend the advance mobile services of e-commerce platform  Alibaba in the Philippines through its investment in Globe Telecom Inc. unit Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (or Mynt)  which is  wholly owned by Globe Capital Venture.

    Ma was present during the formal relaunch of GCash which was opened to the retail industry to allow customers to  make cashless payments using their mobile phones.

    Ma encouraged small business in the Philippines to expand to e-commerce.

    “As long as your service is good, your product is good you should , enable to compete with any big companies this is my belief,” said Ma.

    GCash  is expected to double its 5 million active GCashusers by next year driven by the aggressive expansion of electronic payments services to the retail industry.

    Albert Tinio, GCash president and chief executive officer, said it took Globe 12 years to reach 5 million GCashusers but he is optimistic this would double by 2018 with the expansion of GCash’s use by the retail industry making purchase easier and convenient for consumers.

    Currently, 400 merchants or retail firms acceptGCash as an alternative payment for cash. Tinio said this would increase to 4,000 merchants by yearend as the company is on track to further expand the electronic payment to merchants in all the Ayala Malls.

    GCash’s monthly transaction volume is at P6 billion and the companyexpects this to growfurther as the adoption of GCash increases.

    According to Tinio, bulk of the transactions are buying load, sending money, paying bills and retail purchases. While retail is still small,most of the transactionsare expected to come from retail as GCash continues to expand its services.

    With the expertise of Alipay Singapore Holding Pte, a unit of Ant Financial Group , Globe is optimistic it would sustain the growth of GCash services in the country, said Tinio.

    The recent joint venture of Ant Financial, Globe and Ayala Corp. is seen to speed up the country’s digitization to make the lives of Filipinos much easier as it opened the Philippine retail industry to electronic payments through GCash.

    Globe Fintech is 45 percent owned by Alipay, 45 percent by Globe Venture and 10 percent by Ayala.

    MYLA IGLESIAS (Malaya)

    Share

    One Comment For "Go cashless, Alibaba founder urges PH"

    New Posts Recently publish post More

    • 21 March 2024
      7 days ago No comment

      Canada eyes space cooperation with Philippines

      The Philippines held its first space cooperation conference on March 19, 2024 as the country seeks to explore opportunities presented by the heavens. The conference was organized by the Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute for Strategic and International Studies, a Metro Manila-based think-tank; the fledgling Philippine Space Agency; and ...

    • 14 March 2024
      2 weeks ago No comment

      Mable endorses campaign for Benson Flores marker

      Mable Elmore is supporting the campaign to raise funds for a memorial marker for pioneer immigrant Benson Flores. Elmore is the Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Vancouver-Kensington, which is also home to Mountain View Cemetery where Flores is buried in an unmarked grave. MLA Elmore ...

    • 07 March 2024
      3 weeks ago No comment

      Quiboloy church linked to fake marriages in Canada

      Some 100 allegedly fraudulent marriages in Canada are connected to the religious group led by the spiritual adviser of now former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte. This stunning allegation was made on March 5, 2024 by Dindo Maquiling, a former follower of Apollo Quiboloy. Maquiling is a former executive director ...

    • 07 March 2024
      3 weeks ago No comment

      MP Valdez Visits Vancouver

      Liberal MP Rechie Valdez visited Vancouver to meet with BC Business owners at the Dubai National Air Travel Agency (DNATA) Catering in Richmond recently. The meet and greet was an opportunity for local businesses to dialogue directly with Valdez whose portfolio includes small businesses. The roundtable discussion was led ...

    • 29 February 2024
      4 weeks ago No comment

      Minimum wage increases to $17.40 an hour on June 1 VICTORIA

      For Immediate Release Feb. 26, 2024 VICTORIA – B.C.’s lowest-paid workers will get a pay raise when the general minimum wage increases from $16.75 to $17.40 per hour on June 1, 2024. This represents a 3.9% increase, consistent with B.C.’s average rate of inflation in 2023. The alternate minimum ...

    %d bloggers like this: