1.) m-commerce musings from an interview I gave to a Singapore consultant

2.) Telco musings about new markets, preparing for a meeting this afternoon.

So much in my mind, it’s good to download into a blog
m-commerce trends in the Philippines 

Last month, I was interviewed by an m-commerce consultant based in Singapore. When he called me on the phone, I was pleasantly surprised to find out he was Pinoy!

Anyway, he asked me about m-commerce trends in the Philippines, where the industry is going or should go.

I share here my thoughts. I’ve added a few things apart from what I described to him. Here goes … 

a.) The partnership of Western Union with Smart Padala and G-Cash was a big win for m-commerce in the Philippines. With Billions of pesos coming in to the Philippines, the remittance segment is surely a good place to be for m-commerce. If only they would enable it na (it’s still in planning/development stage, I surmise).

b.) The online m-commerce partnerships help too. G-Cash partnered up with eBay.ph and Auctions.ph . They actually just formalized what many pinoy merchants and buyers were already doing with G-cash. G-Cash came in at the right time, thus they won almost 95% share (1 in 20 transactions use G-Cash) in online commerce transactions.

c.) Smart uses Smart Money for all their e-load distributors. This is a huge market for Smart Money, having thousands of e-load distributors using Smart Money. This makes it an easy step for Smart to “activate” these e-load distributors into Smart Money “merchants” allowing them to be “Money Changers” between cash and Smart Money. I’ve described in a previous article how to incentivize this: Give those Smart Money Changers some free airtime load when they convert from cash to Smart Money.

d.) The Philippines is a great place to make m-commerce a part of daily life. In an archipelago like ourse, the mobile phone is what keeps our communications tight. It is also what can keep commerce active. Quicker transactions, means more transactions, means more progress!

e.) Bring together the two technology islands. I discussed this in 2005 in my thesis.

There are two technology islands: Smart Money and G-Cash. These two technologies do not talk, they’re not inter-operable. There is a huge advantage in making these two technologies inter-operable. It increases the network of users manyfold.

I see a third party as the intervenor to bring the two technology islands together. It could be a private company or maybe even Sun Cellular. All this third party needs to do is create a “clearing house” that will exchange between three currencies: smart money, G-Cash and Cash.

You know what else could be beautiful — when the common tao the man on the street finds a business that enables this kind of money changing.

That’s a lot of imagination. That’s focusing on m-commerce.

 Telco Industry new markets 

Now what I’d like to write is about new markets for the telecommunications companies. I’m actually writing this to prepare myself for a discussion I have with an online friend.

Question:
Where will the Philippine Telcos find their next 5 Million subscribers?
Where will the Philippine Telcos find their next 5 Billion Pesos in revenue?

Here is what I would do to find answers to these questions:

1.) Environment scan
a.) External Environment — What is happening in other countries? What are the trends? What are the upcoming mobile technologies. How are developed countries using mobile technology? How is Japan using their mobile technology?

b.) Internal Environment — What are the needs of the Filipino? What technologies are being developed by our small mobile apps developers? What questions are in the minds of Filipinos that we can help answer?

2.) Synergize technologies - social networking + mobile commerce, WiFi + blogging, Radio + VAS, TV + low cost IDD, Transportation + cellphone wallet, e-Learning + recorded messages via cellphone. Create something out of what exists, put two or three together and see how they could address a need of Pinoys.

3.) Synergize industries/sectors - Telco + oil industry, what’s there to create? Telco + radio, what’s there to create? Telco + agriculture, what’s there to create? Telco + government, what’s there to create? Telco + entertainment, what’s there to create? Telco + motorists, what’s there to create?

4.) Serendipity walk - the next 5 million subscribers are not in the cities. We are missing out in providing telecom services to more than half of the population — and they are not in the cities. with 50 Million subscribers, how do we reach the next 5 million subscribers?

5.) Keep the top-line moving. The early adopters of technology, keep feeding them with the newest technologies. This has an effect of trickling down the technology to the masses.

6.) Encourage the third-party creation of new applications, new uses of technology. Don’t horde. Give developers an SDK. 50 employees in a telco cannot do what 500 students around the country can. Enable those 500 students.

7.) Encourage user content creation - Just like blogging put journalism in the people’s hands, allow Pinoys to create their own mobile phone content.

8.) Create platforms for collaboration - allow multitudes of people to interact in your platform. That’s what friendster did, that’s what ragnarok did, that’s what secondlife did, that’s what facebook did. The created platforms and people came and used the platform. What is the mobile version of that? What platforms can we create for Filipinos?

Conclusion 

These are a lot of ideas. If I were to take just one most important idea from the above, it is to go out and discover the pressing concerns of the Filipino. That is where the next market is.

The GSMA’s Mobile Money Transfer (MMT) programme was launched with the aim of tapping the ubiquity and ease-of-use of mobile communications to enable the world’s 200 million international migrant workers to easily and securely send remittances to their dependents, many of whom don’t have bank accounts.

By exploiting the extensive reach of the mobile networks, the programme will complement existing local remittances channels and make transferring money internationally significantly more affordable.

When a governing body like the GSMA takes a role as actively as this, they can bring big players like Western Union, Smart and Globe to the same fold to create a service where everybody wins … especially the subscribers!
ka edong

Edwin S. Soriano
Living the Information Society
24 April 2007

Objective: Learn the magical powers m-Commerce for Microfinance

Agenda

• The MFI secret potion
• The magic of m-Commerce
• Results of the study: Common arcane issues
• Four secret ingredients for a successful m-commerce for microfinance solution

Download the presentation here: The Magician’s Guide to m-Commerce for Microfinance

M-Commerce for Microfinance:
The CARD-NGO and RBAP-MABS
Pilot Study Experiences

Written by
Edwin S. Soriano and Eloisa A. Barbin
March 24, 2006

ABSTRACT
      This paper encapsulates the lessons learned from a pilot study conducted with a leading microfinance institution, the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development – NGO (CARD-NGO).
      It gathers insights from client-beneficiaries as to their experiences with m-Commerce in microfinance. It seeks to gain first-hand feedback on the impact of m-commerce on client-beneficiaries.
      The paper also draws lessons from another pilot study with a microfinance bank, the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines - Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) pilot project based in Mindanao.
      The paper takes the form of a case that will put in writing the impact of m-Commerce on microfinance client-beneficiaries which will be useful in the fields of study of m-commerce as well as microfinance. All these initiatives are geared towards better addressing the needs of client-beneficiaries of microfinance institutions.

Download complete paper here: M-Commerce for Microfinance: The CARD-NGO and RBAP-MABS Pilot Study Experiences

Edwin
24 April 2007

Here’s a presentation about how MABS has used Mobile Phones to transform microfinance transactions through technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz2rIN9ADCc 

Thanks to John for the referral.

Here’s another video where the speaker discusses technology developments in microfinance as exemplified by the Philippine experience: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz2rIN9ADCc

Anna gives a quick review of Text-A-Payment, a microfinance payment scheme by the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines. Excerpts …

Potential Impact of Mobile Phone Banking
The potential impact of mobile phone banking is impressive. There are numerous applications available which are both valuable for the client as well the bank, including remittances – both domestic and international, deposits, withdrawals, bill payment, cash in/out, and TAP. Remittances, both domestic and international, offer a large market given the large volume in the Philippines and relative low cost of using SMS-based mobile phone banking applications as compared to the high cost of current banking and remittance company alternatives.

It proposes further the question of whether the Text-A-Payment system can be replicated in other countries.

There are certain success factors in this Philippine example– a large number of cell phone users including low income households who are familiar with text messaging, a strong relationship between “champions” at Globe and RBAP-MABS, the willingness of Globe and the rural banks to try something new and innovate, the existence of the “ecosystem” of merchants, clients and outlets, and most importantly, the willingness of the Central Bank to support innovation in the banking industry.

There are many untold stories, some good, some not so good. But papers like this help make sense of what’s out there, of what can be done.

Read the paper here: Catching the Technology Wave: Mobile Phone Banking and Text-a-Payment in the Philippines (PDF, 250kb)
ka edong
m-konomist

Thanks to all the participants in our first Webinar on m-Commerce for Microfinance especially to Elysian, Alfred and Micah. Thanks also to Lakan.net for hosting our Webinar.

We’ll be having more Webinars in the future. If you are interested in attending, just leave a note. We’ll tell you what is available, what can be arranged for you or your organization. Cheers! — Edwin, 30 June 2005

I will be conducting an Online Web Seminar (Webinar) on m-Commerce for Microfinance on Thursday, 30 June, 2pm-4pm (Philippines).

Webinar Outline

There will be two main parts of the Webinar
Part I: m-Commerce in the Philippines
Part II: m-Commerce for Microfinance

The Webinar will include slide presentations and a chat session to entertain questions from participants. Webinar materials may also include audio and video files.

Audience

This Webinar is appropriate for individuals who wish to be better informed about m-Commerce services in the Philippines.

Furthermore, the Webinar will be especially useful for people who are looking for ways to leverage m-Commerce for their organization or enterprise.

Requirements

Webinar participants need to have an Internet connection to access webinar materials and to participate in the chat session.

Registration

The m-Commerce for Microfinance Webinar can accommodate a limited number of participants. Kindly leave your name and contact info below to signify your interest.

Registrants may expect Webinar materials on Wednesday, 29 June 2005.

Registration Fee

The Webinar registration fee is Php500.

• Please send your registration fee via G-Cash to 09279144708 (do not text/call this number, no one will answer).
• Keep the G-Cash transaction acknowledgement message and transaction number for verification.
• Need help using G-Cash? Visit Globe’s G-Cash FAQs and keywords.

There are a few sponsored slots available.
If you wish to avail of sponsorship Register first and then E-mail me at edwin[dot]soriano[at]gmail[dot]com .

Partnership

This Webinar is brought to you in partnership with Lakan Leadership Institute

Visit Mobile Tulay (http://mobiletulay.edongskey.com/) for further announcements.

Edwin
Technobiography

AIM grad finds micro-financing future in mobile commerce By Erwin Lemuel Oliva (June 26, 2005) Excerpts from Inq7.net:

FROM a sophisticated and convenient communications device to a tool for broadcasting jokes and protest against government, the ubiquitous mobile phone is slowly turning into an electronic means to dispense cash, an e-wallet in short. A Filipino graduate of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) business school recently found, however, not just one but 27 more ingenious applications for mobile commerce when he conducted a pilot study with a local non-government organization. Think micro-financing. Currently as a development consultant on information and communications technology for AIM, 30-year old Edwin Soriano has drawn up several business models to ride on existing mobile commerce innovations like Globe Telecom’s G-cash and Smart Communications’s Smart Money. For the pilot study he conducted with the non-government organization Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (Card-NGO), Soriano experimented with his business concepts using G-cash. Card-NGO is currently one of the biggest non-government organizations involved in micro-financing in the Philippines.

Click the links on the left to read full story

My m-Commerce Study was featured on Inq7.net. Thanks to Erwin Oliva for writing the story and Heinz Bulos for telling Erwin about the study.

You’ll find copies of the story at the following links:

• AIM grad finds micro-financing future in mobile commerce (Available while Inq7.net keeps the online copy)
• Saved copy of article on Geocities.com
• PDF file for easy printing
• Screen shot - Nasa front page ako

Edwin
Technobiography

Pilot Testing of m-Commerce Applications in Microfinance Institutions
Loan Collection and Disbursement in CARD-NGO

Abstract

This management research report creates actual experience of mobile commerce applications in microfinance through a pilot.

From the lessons of the pilot, the paper explores ways be which m-commerce interventions may benefit microfinance towards achieving MFI Objectives.

The paper recommends a strategy for m-commerce intervention in CARD-NGO and for MFIs at large. Lastly, the paper summarizes the findings of the pilot and proposes ways by which m-commerce service providers could better enable clients in the microfinance sector.

Edwin S. Soriano
May 2005

I conducted a pilot study on m-Commerce for Microfinance from February until April 2005 with CARD-NGO.

I did the study as a thesis at the Asian Institute of Management under the Master in Development Management program.

You can download my full thesis. I hope you find it useful. If you derive anything from my work, make sure to provide appropriate citations. I would appreciate it if you inform me too.

Download the full thesis here:

• PDF files (100++ pages, 1.12Mb, Zipped PDF files)
  (PDF version added on 23 June 2005)

Zip file contains:
Abstract
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Management Research Report (main paper)
Exhibits Appendices
GCR revenue computations (MS Excel)
CARD Presentation (21 May 2005) (Powerpoint Slideshow)
Reade (Txt file)

Mabuhay!

Edwin

Compared to my presentation at the June 15 forum where I chose to discuss the details in a question & answer format, the presentation below has more written detail and animation which might be more useful first-time readers.

Download CARD Presentation (21 May 2005).ppt
(31 slides, 353 Kb, MSPowerpoint Slideshow)

Edwin
Technobiography