The basics of e-commerce in the Philippines
Ant Financial and Philippine well-known mobile telecom service provider GlobeTelecom, digital finance company Mynt, urban construction and shopping center operator Ayala Group, jointly held the Philippines "Alipay" GCASH "Scan code payment" launch and promotion activities on the 10th and 25th, in the Philippines The visiting Jack Ma went to the "platform" and experienced QR code payment.
In February of this year, Mynt, a digital financial company affiliated with the operator GlobeTelecom, introduced capital injections from the parent company of Alipay, Ant Financial, and Ayala, the Philippines. Ant Financial works closely with Mynt's GCASH product to provide it with a digital financial service system. 520 million Alipay users worldwide are expected to scan and pay in the Philippines in the future.
In the afternoon of the same day, Jack Ma came to GLORIETTA 4 in Makati, the CBD of Manila, accompanied by senior executives of the partners. At the ticket office of a movie theater, he scanned the Philippine QR code on the counter with his mobile phone and downloaded GCASH to pay by scanning the QR code. APP.
Later, he went to the theater door to pick up a small vendor selling Philippine specialty drinks, scanned the QR code printed on the card with his mobile phone, and bought a drink for 1 peso. After taking a photo with the hawker, he walked into the theater to promote the GCASH platform with his partners.
At the ticket office of a movie theater, Jack Ma used his mobile phone to scan the QR code of the Philippines QR code on the counter, and downloaded the GCASH scan code payment APP. Later, he went to the theater door to pick up a small vendor selling Philippine specialty drinks, scanned the QR code printed on the card with his mobile phone, and bought a drink for 1 peso.
Ant Financial CEO Eric Jing said at the launch ceremony that in the past few months, Ant Financial has worked closely with Mynt’s GCASH product to provide it with a digital financial service system. 520 million Alipay users worldwide are expected to scan codes in the Philippines in the future. Paid. He introduced that by logging in to GCASH, you can also visit more than 10,000 cooperative merchants and realize online shopping.
GlobeTelecom said that the feature will be launched in other Ayala malls later, such as Greenbelt, TriNoma, Market! Market!, Alabang Town Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Bonifacio High Street and Ayala Malls The 30th.
GlobeTelecom CEO Ernest Qiu said: "Now, more and more people use mobile phone data. Now is the mature time to start the mobile digital payment method and make this payment method mainstream. Today’s challenge is to make digital payments the first choice for our customers, rather than cash or credit cards.” Qiu said: “In the Philippines, only 5% of the population has a credit card, and the vast majority carry cash. We find the right partner, and When appropriate, we will truly expand our business and change the way we use financial services."
Ant Financial CEO Jing Xiandong said that the introduction of scanning payment technology will reduce costs, increase efficiency and improve security. The Philippines is about to realize the convenient lifestyle that 520 million Alipay users are enjoying.
Alibaba will continue to invest in the Philippines
Jack Ma received the "Honorary Doctor of Science in Science and Technology Entrepreneurship" from De La Salle University (DLSU), the top three universities in the Philippines. In his speech, he stated that “embrace online payment and make the Philippines a cashless society. Technology is the fastest and easiest way.” In February of this year, the digital finance company Mynt, which is affiliated with the operator GlobeTelecom, introduced Ant Financial, the parent company of Alipay. And the capital injection of Ayala Corporation in the Philippines.
According to Google Temasek research, although most observers believe that e-commerce is the future of the retail industry, its development in the Philippines is very slow. It only accounted for 0.5% of the total retail market in 2015 and will reach 4.7% by 2025.
Ma Yun said in a speech at Rakshasa University: "The first rule is to continue to invest in the Philippines."
Last year, Alibaba Group spent US$1 billion to acquire a controlling stake in Lazada, a major e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, and in June this year increased another US$1 billion, increasing the shareholding from 51% to 83%. Jack Ma said: "In Southeast Asia, with Lazada and AliExpress, honestly speaking, I don't think we can pay back in 5 years. Fortunately, we have made a lot of money in China."
He added: "We came to the Philippines not to make money from e-commerce at first, but to see what kind of infrastructure we can build in the Philippines to make it easier for small businesses in the Philippines to participate in e-commerce. This is The only thing to do in the next 3 to 5 years."
The first part of Alibaba's plan is to establish a local Internet market through Lazada and establish infrastructure to promote e-commerce trade across national borders.
Jack Ma said: "These markets will allow Filipino merchants to do business with China, Malaysia, Thailand and Europe."
The second part of Alibaba's plan involves the establishment of an advanced mobile payment system. Jack Ma explained: "This will enable young people and small businesses to get funding, and ultimately will build a cashless society in the Philippines. This is what we want."
Ma Yun said: "We also have Lazada's logistics system here. It is not good at the moment, but if we continue to invest in this system, we will be ready for another 3 to 5 years."
Alibaba also proposed the idea of setting up a training center to help train entrepreneurs to master the group platform and provide data.
Jack Ma said: "We are different from other multinational Internet companies because when we came here, the first thing we did was to find partners to make them successful."
He added: “We will build infrastructure here to get people used to e-commerce. We don’t expect success next year; we are thinking about 5 to 8 years.”