By Espie Angelica A. de Leon
Chinese tech billionaire Jack Ma led the launch of Globe Telecom?s GCash cashless payment for Ayala malls on Wednesday, Oct. 25, at Glorietta 4 in Makati City.
The telco collaborated with Ayala Corporation, Ant Financial, and Mynt for the e-money initiative. Ma?s Alibaba holds a 45-percent stake in Mynt, Globe?s fintech unit.
GCash is a mobile wallet service of Mynt which uses the smartphone as a virtual wallet. To pay for goods and services using GCash, customers have to scan the QR code displayed in the establishment using the GCash app?s scan-to-pay feature, thus eliminating the need to carry cash or credit cards.
It is equally beneficial to the merchants since GCash replaces those expensive machines that process cash payments, with QR code stickers that customers will scan in order to pay.
Under this system, customers get to pay the exact mount, eliminating the need for extra coins and bills to be given as change.
At Glorietta, GCash is offered at Max?s, Bench, Bistro Group, SSI, Timezone, Glorietta cinemas, The Movie Snackbar, among others.
Following in the footsteps of Glorietta as the first Ayala mall to offer the GCash experience, other Ayala malls are soon to follow suit.
These include Greenbelt, TriNoma, Market! Market!, Alabang Town Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Bonifacio High Street, UP Town Center, Ayala Malls The 30th, Ayala Malls Vertis North and Ayala Malls South Park.
?Now that more people are using data on their smartphones, the time is ripe to enable digital payments using the smartphone and let this go mainstream,? said Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu.
?Our challenge today is to make digital payments the preferred choice among our customers instead of cash or credit cards.?
Aside from paying for goods and services online and offline, the mobile wallet may also be used to buy load, pay bills, send money, pay real property and BIR taxes, book movies, among others, all of which are done in less than a minute.
?Technology is helping more people to enjoy the benefits of digital financial services in a cost-effective, efficient and safe way,? said Ant Financial CEO Eric Jing.
During the launch event, Alibaba?s Ma encouraged the Philippine government and business community to work towards a cashless society and improve Internet speed in the country.
Meanwhile, the public will get a taste of the cashless shopping experience when Globe and Ayala Malls hold #GDay on November 11 at Glorietta with promos and rebates from BCash in Glorietta stores.
