Smart, DoCoMo offer mobile remittance

Smart, DoCoMo offer mobile remittance

SMART Communications Inc. on Wednesday said it has partnered with a Japanese firm to offer a mobile-to-mobile remittance service.

In a statement, Smart said the partnership with Japan-based NTT DoCoMo Inc. would allow residents of Japan to send directly to the Smart Money account of their loved ones and friends in the Philippines via DoCoMo Money Transfer.
“Our partnership with NTT DoCoMo underscores our long standing strategy of collaborating with different service providers, financial institutions and remittance companies, here and overseas, to enable them to offer innovative services to a wider customer base,” Tricia Dizon, head of the Smart Financial Services Group said.
“We are certainly excited to bring another first to the telco landscape that will benefit overseas Filipinos and their loved ones,” she added.
The service, which is a product of NTT, will be available to service remittances to any of over 8.5 million Smart Money accounts in the Philippines.
Smart Money is the world’s first reloadable payment card linked to a Smart cellphone powered by the mobile commerce platform of the telco.
NTT is a partner of Smart’s mother company—Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.
The service is expected to benefit over 200,000 Filipinos in Japan and their friends and loved ones back home. It may also service the remittance requirements of Japanese nationals sending to fellow Japanese in the Philippines.
In 2010, Japanese visitor arrivals in the Philippines stood at over 350,000.
To avail of the service, the Japan-based sender simply has to register for a DoCoMo Money Transfer account. Once registered, the sender then can remit cash to any Smart Money account in the Philippines by making an order from a mobile phone.
Once the designated recipient, cash value and 16-digit Smart Money account number have been indicated, remittance of funds will commence. Cost of the service is 1,000 Japanese yen per transaction.
Besides the Philippines, the DoCoMo Money Transfer will enable remittances to Brazil, South Korea and China.
Nationals of these four countries account for almost 80 percent of all foreign residents in Japan.
The DoCoMo Money Transfer is expected to benefit more countries in the future.

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