You were the driving force behind the Philippines’ 2001 launch of the first mobile money service in the world. What inspired the development of this and the concept of accepting payments through mobile technology?
Smart Communications merged with PILTEL to become the Philippines’ largest telecommunications provider. We decided to launch Smart Money because we wanted to go beyond phone calls and text messages. This was revolutionary for us. We offered a service that allowed the value of [Filipino] pesos to be stored in a mobile wallet, linked to a Mastercard debit card, and funded through Smart Centres. It was the world’s first service for mobile money. “Airtime purchase, which empowered load distributors, over-the-counter remittances via Smart Padala, and subscription bundles were our initial use cases. One of the first implementations of SIM Application Toolkit technology for financial services, this was later recognized by the GSMA as a ground-breaking move that predates even M-Pesa. Before banks were even ready to talk about financial inclusion, our initiative showed how telcos could be the catalysts.
The Philippines dominated the global mobile money market up until about 2008. What obstacles did the business face as it expanded and became the preferred payment method?
Adoption on a large scale, particularly at the base of the pyramid, was the obstacle. Despite the fact that we introduced cutting-edge mobile innovations, our models did not “go viral.” Cash was still king. Even though digital wallets were significantly more advanced, many customers found traditional money transfer services like pawnshops and remittance centers to be less expensive and more dependable. “The Philippines had a strong start but lacked the regulatory clarity and cohesive agent models that later made it possible for Kenya to grow quickly.
M-Pesa was successful because it established a widespread, low-cost, agent-driven, and user-friendly remittance ecosystem. In contrast, Smart Money and GCash lacked widespread trust and simplicity, but were ahead in technology. “2009 marked a turning point when Smart Money became the first non-bank merchant acquiring license holder, broadening its business model beyond person-to-person transfers and into a broader payments ecosystem. As a result, we were able to launch Mobile Payment Services (MPS) together with Mastercard, bringing wallet models developed in the Philippines to Latin America.
Additionally, you assisted in the successful launch of a mobile money service in Cambodia. How would you compare Cambodia’s digitalization to that of the Philippines?
“When I relaunched Wing Cambodia, we utilized the lessons learned from Smart Money and GCash, in addition to the introductions of Wanda and Zuum (Mastercard-enabled e-wallets in Latin America),” Agents should be the first to trust mobile money. While many Cambodians lacked faith in mobile phones as banking tools, they did have faith in their local agents. As a result, we developed a model in which agents were used for each and every transaction, including cash in, cash out, bill payments, payments to the supply chain, and marketplace purchases. Wing’s ecosystem became essentially a national resource. “By 2019, its annual transaction volumes hit $28 billion (Cambodia’s annual GDP was $21 billion).
Agent-driven growth made up a lot of this, which is important in emerging markets. If agent trust, branding, and relevance were in place, even smaller populations could still result in massive volumes of digital payments. “The Philippines had deeper roots in financial inclusion, better smartphone adoption and telco-backed infrastructure. However, ironically, Cambodia moved more quickly to incorporate digital transactions into daily life because it placed a greater emphasis on user trust and simplicity than on technological advancement. It wasn’t until the pandemic in 2020 that GCash saw a growth in mainstream adoption.”
The GSMA brought mobile money leaders from Africa to the Philippines in June 2025 to learn about fintech innovation there. What surprised you about mobile money providers’ progress in your country?
It’s been exceptional. Product development, API integrations, infrastructure, merchant and government partnerships, and years of preparation have finally paid off during the pandemic. Maya (formerly Smart Money) and GCash are now indispensable tools. I’m surprised that Filipino players have caught up to African pioneers like M-Pesa and even surpassed them in some areas. In the Philippines, wallets are now super-apps. You can use them to get insurance, credit, savings, cryptocurrencies, payments from the government, and more. This shift is confirmed by the GSMA’s [SOTIR 2025] report: “Driven by digital banking, interoperability, and inclusive platforms, East Asia and the Pacific saw one of the fastest rates of growth in monthly active mobile money users.” “Ai-based solutions, open finance integration, and digital banking of the next generation are being pioneered here at the moment. We have moved from being late to being a regional reference point.
The fact that the GSMA invited leaders in mobile money from Africa to investigate our ecosystem in 2025 says it all. Where do you see the industry going in five to ten years, based on your experience?
“A future shaped by AI, programmable money, embedded finance, and decentralized services is now in our sights. Mobile money platforms will strive to become full-service financial ecosystems, as over 60% of providers worldwide now offer credit, savings, and insurance, according to the GSMA’s analysis in SOTIR. Central banks will continue to push for financial literacy, Open APIs, risk sandboxes, and digital trust in regulation. “I see players in mobile money evolving into providers of digital infrastructure over the next ten years, supporting microbusinesses, gig workers, small and medium-sized businesses, and even public finance.” Agile platforms that are able to bundle value, facilitate trust, and create everyday relevance for the banked as well as the underserved will win, not just banks or telcos.
If you could go back to the beginning of the first mobile money service, what, if anything, would you change, and why?
I would have advocated for financial literacy and earlier, bolder regulation. We require more funding for consumer education, sandboxes, and open experimentation. India’s demonetization, for example, was the result of policy changes implemented by China, Brazil, and India to compel digital use. QR Ph, open banking regulations, and digital ID systems were eventually adopted by the Philippines. However, most of the time between 2001 and 2008, we created without a policy playbook. Today, we can see that providers, regulators, educators, and platforms will collaborate to create the future of digital finance. The Philippines could have led the world in both innovation and scaling financial inclusion outcomes if we had instilled that spirit two decades ago. However, this is retrospective.