The Philippines is the text-messaging capital of the world. About 45 million Filipinos own cell phones and send more than 1 billion text messages a day.
But there is more to text messaging than personal communications. With the help of USAID, Filipinos are using their cell phones to bank. These services, designed by the USAID-support MABS program, allow clients to deposit and withdraw from their bank accounts, receive and pay loans, receive and send remittances and even handle payroll services via their cell phones. The MABS program linked with Globe Telecom to utilize the GCash platform to facilitate the MABS-designed mobile phone banking services. G-Cash essentially turns a cell phone into an electronic wallet that people can use to send and receive payments via text saving clients time and money.
