Smart becomes 1st non-financial Visa licensee in SEA

Smart Communications Inc., the flagship wireless arm of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), became the first non-financial institution in Southeast Asia to get a principal license from global payments network leader Visa Inc.

After acquiring the license, Smart eMoney Inc. could now issue Visa-branded prepaid cards, acquire merchant transactions as well as offer Visa Direct products and services for domestic and international money transfers.

PLDT and Smart chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said the “milestone collaboration with Visa augurs well with PLDT’s aggressive roadmap in pushing for a robust digital ecosystem.”

“Having the biggest consumer base in the Philippines, we are in a very strategic position to roll out various innovative financial payments products and services; and a number of them will be out this year,” he said

PLDT made its biggest overseas investment after initially shelling out 333 million euros for a stake in Berlin-based Rocket Internet in August last year on top of a joint venture partnership

to deploy mobile commerce in selected growth and emerging markets with PayMaya as the vehicle.

“Digital is the new normal and mobile becomes the core of our everyday lives. PLDT, through Smart and Smart e-Money, is the trailblazer in this digital arena,” Pangilinan said.

Visa country manager for Philippines and Guam Stuart Tomlinson said Visa is proud to support Smart e-Money and help expand access to financial services across the Philippines.

“With a large customer base and a strong presence across the country, we are pleased to partner with Smart to bring the benefits of electronic payments to even more Filipinos,” Tomlinson said.

The first product called Charge2Phone (C2P) to be launched in partnership with Visa and Citi is the country’s first contactless payment sticker using near-field communication (NFC).

C2P also offers added convenience to its customers who can use their 11-digit mobile number for online purchases at the checkout page instead of the usual 16-digit credit card number.