SMIC betting big on logistics, tech

The Sy-led SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the conglomerate behind the country’s biggest retailer and the biggest bank, said it is investing heavily in logistics and technology as it conceded that digital businesses could replace brickand-mortar malls and banks.

SMIC chairman Jose Sio said this is a major step being taken by the conglomerate to survive the changing business landscape, which is happening all over the globe.

In a forum organized by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday night, Sio said the shift to digital banking and retailing is already happening in other parts of the world.

“Retail will be gone. It’s already gone in the US so we are investing heavily in logistics to prepare for digital type of businesses,” Sio said.

“We are also investing in digital heavily because banking will change in the next five years. In China, banking is already done from homes. Branches will be gone. The same thing will happen to the Philippines eventually,” Sio said.

Aside from SMIC, other conglomerates in the country such as Aboitiz Equity Ventures, LT Group, the group of corporate tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan, Ayala Corp. and the Gokongwei group are also investing heavily in financial technology or fintech.

Fintech companies are those that use technology – often in the form of online platforms or mobile applications – to enable alternative delivery of financial products or services.

With fintech, banks can capture the growing volume of digital payments for consumer goods and services.

Through this mode of payment, banks can seize opportunities from the growing middle class whose capacity to spend is expanding along with the country’s growing economy.

But among the conglomerates, the MVP Group and Ayala Corp. are already engaged in fintech.

The MVP Group’s PayMaya Philippines is the pioneer and leader in digital financial services in the Philippines. It has made mobile and online payment transactions more accessible to Filipinos nationwide with revolutionary payment technologies.

Ayala-owned Globe Telecoms, meanwhile, has Mynt which provides innovative and first-in-world fintech solutions to consumers, merchants, and organizations. Its purpose is to enable financial access for consumers and merchants by disrupting traditional channels through digital financial technology services.