New battlefield for duopoly: Mobile wallets

Rivals PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom are racing to tap retail groups and gain an edge in the mobile wallet platform, a still small segment but with huge potential should more Filipinos turn toward “cashless” options.

Globe, which operates GCash, and PLDT, which backs Paymaya Philippines, announced the rollout of their QR code scan-to-pay feature with the retail arm of the Gokongwei family’s Robinsons Mall group—the latest in a series of partnerships.

The pilot was launched in Robinsons Department Store, Robinsons Supermarket and brands with ties to the group, such as Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and G2000, in Robinsons Galleria in the heart of Metro Manila.

This followed a tie-up with the group’s Ministop, the country’s second biggest convenience store chain. More malls and outlets would be joining next year, the firms said.

Globe and PLDT are betting that more subscribers will choose cashless options when making transactions.

The opportunity is also large in the Philippines, since their respective mobile wallet platforms can serve a population where 75 percent of people have no bank accounts and a staggering 95 percent do not own a credit card.

Both companies have taken steps to relaunch their mobile wallets, given advances in QR code technology and as smartphone penetration deepens.

With the scan-to-pay feature, consumers can pay for products and services by scanning QR codes displayed by merchants and stores.

Last month, Chinese tycoon and Alibaba founder Jack Ma visited the Philippines as partner Globe launched its QR code scan-to-pay feature, accessed through its GCash app, in the Glorietta shopping mall in Makati City.

Globe is an affiliate of Ayala Land, which operates Glorietta and a nationwide chain of shopping centers, which will see the progressive rollout of the scan-to-pay feature.

Globe hopes to make the use of GCash as prevalent as Ma’s Alipay is in China.

Likewise, PLDT’s Paymaya has been expanding the use of QR code scanning across its Smart stores around the country. It is targeting food chains and supermarkets such as McDonald’s, Army Navy, Domino’s Pizza and Gaisano Supermarkets.

Apart from expanding their reach across traditional retailers, both companies also want a significant presence in the so-called informal sector, such as street food vendors.

Given the large opportunities in the Philippines, other giants in the electronic wallet sector are joining the fray. WeChat Pay, China’s second largest payments system after Alipay, entered the Philippines through a partnership with Rebisco group-led Asia United Bank.

Earlier this week, PLDT chair and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said they were in talks to tap a Chinese partner for unit Voyager Innovations, which runs the PayMaya service.