Beyond Telco in the Digital Now
By Roger Santos
Last October 15, 2021, I attended a webinar organized by the Makati Business Club, entitled “Beyond Telco in the Digital Now,” which was the last episode of the Leading in Extraordinary Times 2021 Series. The event featured Ernest Cu, president and CEO of Globe Telecom, who highlighted how their company goes beyond telco to cater to the country’s shift to a more digitized lifestyle. He presented how Globe Telecom is transforming beyond telco — to fintech, healthcare, education, and other markets.
As Globe continues to enhance their network, they have built 641 new cell towers and upgraded 1,759 mobile sites to 5G nationwide.
Meanwhile, GCash is currently the leading mobile wallet in the Philippines. GCash became an undisputed market leader with 48 million registered e-wallet users. Through the GCash app, customers can easily buy load and pay bills to over 600 partner billers. They can also pay at more than 7,000 online partners and send and receive money anywhere in the Philippines. Registered users can also pay using QR codes at over 130,000 partner merchants nationwide using their smartphones.
This year, GCash was recognized by The Asian Banker (TAB) for its outstanding digital financial inclusion programs, impacting more than 40 million Filipinos in the country today. However, one of the fastest rising use cases on the GCash app is its array of financial services, spanning credit, savings, insurance, loans, and investments. To highlight its growth, the e-wallet company’s Assets Under Management (AUM) for its savings product, GSave, has grown to over PHP9 billion, from PHP5 billion in 2020 — almost double in just six months. GCash also recently launched GLoan, a new service that allows pre-approved GCash users to borrow as much as PHP 25,000, with re-payment spread over 12 months. The service is doing well and has shown the fastest growing revenue for its category.
GCash is part of the portfolio companies of 917Ventures, the largest corporate incubator in the Philippines wholly owned by Globe Telecom, Inc. Aside from GCash, Globe has a portfolio of companies under 917Ventures.
A number of new innovations were also launched.
In year two of this unprecedented global crisis, Globe Telecom clearly went from being just a telco company to a technology company. They acted fast and is continuously finding sustainable ways to serve their stakeholders and even grow, united in hastening job opportunities and economic recovery in the Philippines.
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About the author:
Roger is a family man who loves to cook and play with his son. He spends most of his free time watching movies, especially the ones included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Roger loves to sing and, when he’s happy, he sings his heart out, without minding the people around him.
