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| The Makatizen Card was unveiled during the press conference held at the Makati Municipal Hall on May 30, 2017. From left; Globe Chief Commercial Officer Albert de Larrazabal, Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu, Makati City Mayor Abby Binay; GXI President Abet Tinio, and iBayad CEO Paulo Saycon. |
The city government of Makati City, in collaboration with Globe Telecom, its subsidiary G-Xchange, Inc. (GXI), and iBayad Online Ventures Inc., recently launched the Makatizen Card which will be made available to Makati’s residents and employees.
The Makatizen Card will allow the city’s 500,000 residents to access city government services and transact with the city government. They can receive cash allowances, stipends, and other cash benefits using their Makatizen Card. It can also be used to pay fees and taxes, as well as for personal remittances and other financial transactions. City government employees, on the other hand, can use their Makatizen Card to receive salaries and allowances. The Makatizen Card also functions as an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Card and is a valid government ID card.
Some 1,000 functioning sample cards were launched and tested at Makati City Hall, and Makati Mayor Abigail Binay said the Makatizen Card collaboration with Globe, GCash, and iBayad “takes us a step nearer to achieving our goal of empowering everyone, including those in the marginalized sectors of society, to enjoy a better quality of life.”
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| Makati to become the country's first connected city. Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu with Makati City Mayor Abby Binay |
Mayor Binay noted that the Makatizen Card goes beyond providing Makati citizens with instant access to essential services of the city government, which in itself is a major leap forward for the city. She adds that “the wide range of digital and mobile services offers the people of Makati more convenient and cost-effective ways of meeting their day-to-day needs and obligations,” she said.
The mayor said the city government will extend its full support for Globe Telecom’s initiatives “geared towards strengthening its telecommunications network to promote a digitally-connected Philippines.”
“With confidence and optimism, we view this unsolicited project proposal from Globe, GCash, and iBayad as the springboard for the rapid transformation of Makati into the country’s first digital city, where citizens and civil servants are able to experience the optimum benefits of the latest innovations in information technology,” she added.
“For the Philippines to truly become a digital nation, we need to fully take advantage of new digital opportunities and innovations to enable growth in every corner of our country. We laud the vision of the Makati City government whose support of this initiative is critical to build the city-wide digital ecosystem, a step towards the realization of our dream for the Philippines to become an admired nation,” said Ernest Cu, Globe President and CEO.
Globe has been ramping up network investments in a bid to amplify benefits of its new spectrum assets and enhance mobile services particularly for data. The company has announced a capital spend of $750 million for the year in an effort to continuously improve mobile and data services. Globe is also aggressively building on its fiber broadband services, aiming to create an internet super highway nationwide. The company aims to deploy fiber optics in 20,000 barangays by 2020 which will provide ultra-fast internet access to around 2 million homes nationwide.
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| Seated from left to right: Makati City Vice Mayor Monique Lagdameo; SVP for Enterprise Peter Maquera; Chief Commercial Officer Albert de Larrazabal ; Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu; Makati City Mayor Abby Binay; GXI President Abet Tinio; Makati City Administrator Claro Certeza; iBayad CEO Paulo Saycon. |
Globe Business, the enterprise information and communications technology (ICT) arm of Globe, is leading the way in encouraging local government units like Makati City to adopt the integration of ICT and governance as a means of improving the delivery of government services and exchange of information. The said initiative supports Globe's drive to transform the Philippines into a digital nation by instilling the importance of eGovernance to offices ranging from the local government units up to the national government.
One of the capabilities derived from an improved mobile and broadband infrastructure is the creation of a city-wide cashless ecosystem wherein e-payment methods such as e-money and debit/credit cards are utilized instead of physical cash. This will benefit not only the residents but also schools, hospitals, government offices, transportation facilities, and other micro, small, and medium-size enterprises.
GXI will serve as the financial service provider for the Makatizen Card while iBayad will deploy the mPOS terminals and build the merchant network where the cards will be accepted.
The Makatizen Card is a valid government-issued ID that comes with a Near-Field Communication (NFC) feature that allows city offices equipped with iBayad machine readers to verify the identity of residents and Makati City employees in a single tap. It stores the information which easily identifies the card holder availing of various city government services without the need to present additional documents.
“Each Makatizen Card carries the features of the GCash mobile wallet but is also customized to be used in the city-wide local merchant network. All services that they will get in Makati City, whether it is payment of taxes, cash allowances for health and other benefits, etc. will be directly credited to this GCash wallet that is linked to the card. They don’t have to carry anything except this ID and their mobile phone,” said Albert Tinio, President of GXI which operates GCash mobile money service.
On the other hand, iBayad Founder and CEO Paolo G. Saycon said: "For us, the Makatizen Card Project is as much a social endeavour, as it is a business venture. This undertaking is aligned with iBayad’s purpose of developing socially relevant and meaningful financial innovations that will transform the way people pay. Our objective is to accelerate the adoption and transformation of every consumer’s traditional spending behaviour from cash-centric to electronic payments.”
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| Mayor Abby Binay makes the first Makatizen Card transaction with a local fishball vendor. |
Makatizen Card holders can take advantage of the different financial services of GCash through the merchant network of iBayad to pay government institutions, hospitals, merchants and even transact with Jollijeeps, sari-sari stores, and ambulant vendors for easier and safer transactions.
As an additional benefit for Makati City residents and employees, iBayad will be implementing the “Makatizen Loyalty and Rewards Program” to promote continued use of the card and for them earn loyalty reward points that can used to purchase items. The card will also be used for direct and real-time crediting of salaries and benefits to the GCash wallets of employees, health beneficiaries, senior citizens, and students to improve operational efficiency and tracking of cash flow.
For more information, please contact:
GLOBE TELECOM
Yoly C. Crisanto
SVP, Corporate Communications
Email Address: gtcorpcomm@globe.com.ph
Globe Press Room:http://newsroom.globe.com.ph
Twitter: @talk2GLOBE │ Facebook: www.facebook.com/globeph
iBAYAD
Mervin Caraan
Business Development
Email Address: mcaraan@ibayad.com
Website: www.ibayad.com
