Globe Telecom?s e-payment subsidiary GCash has partnered with Ministop to enable the convenience store operator to accept QR payments.
Ministop is a franchise of Ministop Co. Ltd., one of the largest convenience store chains in Japan. It is a subsidiary of Robinsons Retail Holdings, the second-largest multi-format retailer in the Philippines.
?We are excited over this partnership since Ministop is the first convenience store in the country to embrace e-payment via QR code. This will be good for the larger population because of the ease, convenience, and security that e-payments provide both to the consumers and merchants,? said Anthony Thomas, president and CEO of Mynt which operates GCash.
Merchants like Ministop will no longer need expensive machines to process mobile money transactions since they only need QR stickers with a unique code linked to their GCash wallet.
Thomas said Filipinos will see GCash becoming more ubiquitous in the next couple of years as it acquires more partner merchants including micro entrepreneurs.
?We are not reserving e-payment for organized trade, but also for your cigarette vendor, balut vendor and the sari-sari store, among others. Eventually, you can pay with your smartphone anywhere you go. No need to bring cash,? said Thomas.
To use the scan to pay feature of the GCash App, customers need to download or update the GCash app in their iPhone or Android smartphone, register for an account, and load their GCash wallet in any of the 12,000 GCash partner outlets nationwide, including Robinsons Business Centers, Globe Stores, SM Business Centers, Puregold branches, 7-Eleven Cliqq kiosks, and TouchPay kiosks, among others.
Once done, they only need to tap or point the phone?s camera at the QR code, and input the amount to be paid.
The GCash app scan-to-pay feature is initially available at Ministop branches in Cyberscape Alpha and Cyberscape Beta in Ortigas Center starting December 1, with more and more branches slated to roll out the service in 2018.
GCash users will also enjoy a 10-percent rebate when they scan to pay with GCash at the said branches for the whole month of December.
?Providing 24/7 convenience to our customers has always been our thrust,? said Ministop general manager Thelma Roxas-Jacob, ?and we find that Globe GCash?s e-payment via QR code program will redefine convenience to our customers by providing them an easier way to shop for their favorite treats and meals with just few clicks on their mobile phones.?