PH ready for advanced mobile finance services

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines, with its text-savvy population, has been described as “highly ready” for further advancements in the field of mobile financial services, according to an international survey.

“The Philippines has explored the implementation of mobile financial services for a relatively long time and has realized high levels of adoption in a wide array of available services,” said the World Economic Forum in its survey entitled, “Mobile Financial Services Development Report.”

The survey recognizes the Philippines for its neutral to above-average performance in key aspects of mobile services development. These include institutional and market environments, regulatory proportionality, consumer protection, market competitiveness, market catalyst, end-user empowerment and access, distribution and agent network, and adoption and availability.

The World Economic Forum study involved 20 developing countries, including Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Nigeria, Colombia, Ghana, Afghanistan, Haiti, China, Bangladesh, Uganda, Argentina and Tanzania.

Apart from the Philippines, five other countries were recognized to be strong both in their market and institutional environments—Brazil, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and South Africa.

Market environment encompasses the level of activeness of the private sector in pursuing mobile financial services. Institutional environment covers the role of government in promoting such services.

“[In the Philippines], an important role is played by the government, which has shown leadership by using mobile services to distribute social payments and collect taxes,” the survey said.

Also, more and more Filipinos are using mobile phones, particularly e-wallets, in making purchases.