Homegrown FinTech innovations shine at Mobile World Congress
Homegrown financial technology (FinTech) innovations took center stage at the recently concluded Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, as Voyager Innovations and PayMaya Philippines, the digital and financial innovations arms of PLDT and Smart, respectively, announced key developments in its ramped-up efforts to spur financial inclusion worldwide.
Among the pivotal developments in financial technology innovations announced during the annual conference include a partnership between Voyager and Visa. LockByMobile, Voyager's anti-fraud and card control solution, will be the first to offer ready-to-use interface for any Visa card issuer to rapidly and securely connect to the newly released Visa Consumer Transaction Controls (VCTC).
"The more card users derive comfort from the security of their cards in whatever form they may be, the greater their usage and money velocity. Security is definitely intrinsic to our digital life," said Manuel V. Pangilinan, PLDT Group, Smart and Voyager Innovations chairman.
Through the Visa Development Platform, LockByMobile is completing integration with VCTC to provide consumers maintaining multiple prepaid, debit or credit cards issued by different issuing banks. Card account holders will now have a single, userfriendly, seamless, and simple aggregated interface to easily setup security controls in their cards through the swipe of their fingers on their smartphones or on any online device.
This could include greater visibility of their money, the ability to receive transaction alerts, or even temporarily suspend their accounts using a simple lock and unlock feature. In turn, the solution helps give confidence among users and encourage increased usage of mobile money nationwide.
Mobile insurance milestone
Voyager has likewise announced at the conference its strategic and trailblazing partnership with Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc., the number one and longest-standing life insurance provider in the Philippines.
The collaboration focuses on the intersections of digital and mobile technologies with insurance services. The partners are also looking at leveraging Voyager Innovations' various digital platforms for combined synergies in the intersecting technology and financial services arenas.
"Aside from the banking industry, the insurance sector stand to benefit from game-changing FinTech initiatives particularly in its enabling providers to tap new markets and offer revolutionary products to customers. We are excited to collaborate with SunLife and launch breakthrough initiatives that can benefit a lot of Filipinos really soon," said Lito M. Villanueva, Managing Director of FinTech, Digital Inclusion, and Alliances at Voyager.
Mobile money interoperability
To further accelerate the growth of mobile and electronic money adoption in the country, Voyager has also announced the successful trial of mobile money interoperability conducted by PayMaya Philippines, which will soon enable its users to send funds to other providers, including the likes of GCash, and vice versa.
Interoperability of mobile money services is among the factors that could fast-track financial inclusion and introduction of new products, according to the 2015 State of the Industry Report for Mobile Money released by GSMA, which also stated that 1 in 4 providers around the world are already collaborating toward interoperability.
"This is the first successful interoperability trial in Southeast Asia, and we are working with GSMA toward making this a reality for millions of mobile money users around the country, as well as those who have yet to experience its benefits, as part of our drive to fast-track financial inclusion for Filipinos nationwide," said Orlando B. Vea, President and CEO at Voyager Innovations and PayMaya Philippines.
"GSMA has reported immense growth in mobile money users around the world, but the opportunities are still ripe for FinTech innovations to tap more of the unbanked and uncarded sectors of our population. Both Voyager and PayMaya will be leading the way toward that endeavor, and in turn help spur the emerging digital economy of the country," Vea added.