Union Bank, Globe Telecom launch mobile cash transfer service

MANILA, Philippines—The Union Bank of the Philippines and Globe Telecom have teamed up on a mobile cash transfer service that seeks to strengthen their existing electronic platforms currently serving at least three million in combined retail customers.

With this partnership dubbed as “eMoney XChange,” Union Bank account holders will now be able to transfer funds to and from their GCASH wallets via SMS, thereby enhancing the Aboitiz-led bank’s mobile banking facility, according to officials.  The service was designed to be as simple, secure and affordable as possible, officials announced in a press briefing on Wednesday.

“Money is just a text away,” Union Bank first vice president Antonino Fajardo said.

Paolo Balatao, president of Globe Telecom’s wholly owned unit G-XChange Inc., operator of the pioneering GCASHservice, said this partnership would allow both parties to move money a lot faster.

“Furthermore, this proves that our GCASH platform is a reliable and credible platform to be trusted by the banking sector for moving money,” Balatao said.

“With eMoney Exchange, we are helping our customers manage their money better by providing them smarter banking solutions. In addition, we are opening up more possibilities for our customers to further engage in online opportunities like online business, shopping and sending remittance,” said Union Bank senior vice president of retail product development Ramon Duarte.

“This partnership with GCASH will also cultivate new customer relationships and strengthen existing connections,” Duarte said.

Union Bank has a two-million client base with EON, E-Wallet, ePayCard and regular accounts that can henceforth link up to GCASH.

Launched in 2004, GCASH has about one million in active users and is becoming a popular mode of payment for online shopping, gaming and payment sites. Union Bank’s EON Visa Debit card, on the other hand, is also popularly used as a payment facility of online entrepreneurs and avid online shoppers.

“With the new service, we again offer our subscribers easier and better ways to top up their GCASH mobile wallets,” Balatao said.

The new service requires a minimum transaction of P100. A transaction to transfer cash from Union Bank to GCash has a fee of P10 while the movement of cash from GCASH to Union Bank has a fee of P7.50.

Once GCASH is transferred to a Union Bank account, this account can henceforth be accessed through automated teller machines, to pay bills and for cashless shopping at Visa debit merchants, among others.

To avail of the eMoney XChange service, bank customers have to call the Union Bank customer service to register their Globe mobile number and bank account to be used for this service. After activating the service, customers will be able to cash out their GCASH by texting G2U space <amount> to 2318 and top up or load their GCASH wallet by texting U2G space <amount> to 2318.  They can also inquire on available bank balance by texting BAL to 2318.

GCASH transactions are currently limited to up to P40,000 per transaction based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas guidelines. But this limit would be sufficient given that average transactions have been much lower than this threshhold, Balatao said.