When the New York Times publishes an article singling out the Philippines’ dated infrastructure as a major impediment to the country’s continued growth, you know that it is serious business.
According to the report, there are 2.2 million vehicles coursing through Metro Manila every day, and this level of traffic costs the country US$20 billion in lost productivity per year, or more than PHP876 billion.
The numbers will force you to stop and think. How do you solve the problem of traffic congestion? You take out as many cars off the major thoroughfares as you can by trying different coding schemes, rolling out innovations that enable carpooling, and encouraging more people to take the trains. But that’s easier said than done.
Ask anyone taking Manila’s railway systems and the usual response you’d get is that it’s a nightmare, especially during rush hours. Lines at the ticket booths are long – sometimes extending several blocks from the train station. To make matters worse, insufficient state budget for maintenance has caused the railways to deteriorate significantly over the years, resulting in glitches from time to time, and even accidents.
But not everything’s lost for the Philippine public transport system. The government has bid out a number of infrastructure projects to big corporations that will hopefully improve the convenience of commuters.
Outside of these big corporations is a growing contingent of entrepreneurs who want to use their products and services to help reform public transport. Among them is Ralph Santos, the CEO of financial technology company VMoney.
Ralph Santos, founder and CEO of VMoney
Going cashless
Santos aims to improve access to public transportation by making payments frictionless for passengers. Think Singapore’s EZ Link card, Hong Kong’s Octopus card, and Malaysia’s Touch n’ Go.
VMoney developed the Philippine version of these cards: TAPnPASS. TAPnPASS is a stored-value card that makes use of near field communication (NFC) technology. You use the device to pay by simply tapping it on an NFC reader. You transfer funds to it using the same method: by tapping it on your mobile phone using the VMoney app.
The infrastructure for NFC-enabled ticketing at Manila’s main railways – the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) – is underway. The government awarded a contract for the MRT-LRT smart card system to the tandem of Ayala Corporation and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, and this system will be operational by 2015. The groups will expand use of the smart card to include buses and taxis, and eventually establishments such as parking areas.
Santos believes VMoney’s product addresses a real pain. “Public transportation in the Philippines is definitely in a challenging state and extremely frustrating for those who rely and frequent these means. Congestion, long lines, reliability, security, and delays are the most common complaints. VMoney can help by providing a simple, secure and cost effective solution by giving travelers the convenience of loading their own payment card anytime, anywhere to avoid the line-ups.”
“Imagine using your own mobile phone to load your own card and then getting in the MRT, buses, or even taxis that easily,” he adds.
The ticketing system being developed by the big groups will eventually compete with VMoney’s TAPnPASS concept, but Santos doesn’t mind. It only proves that he’s a step ahead, and in the right direction, too.
And he doesn’t at all intend to compete. “Our aim is to partner, empower, enable and support businesses and individuals. I believe both the Ayala and MVP groups share the same sentiment and hopefully, we’ll have an opportunity to work together and implement many options to allow multiple ecosystems to participate.”
Apart from transportation fares, the TAPnPASS card may be used for other purposes, revolutionizing everyday life. For instance, it may double as an ID at schools. This means students can use their IDs to pay for food at the school canteen or supplies at the bookstore, eliminating the need to bring cash.
VMoney also has another NFC product, the TAPnPAY, which can be used to pay an unlimited amount. Transactions using TAPnPAY must be done online however, as there’s a need to validate customers’ account balances and enter a PIN for security.
True to their goal of bringing convenience to consumers, VMoney’s TAP products come in different wearables like keychains, necklaces, bracelets, and rings, which can be activated and deactivated as the users please.
See: VMoney CEO: Apple Pay is a cause for celebration, not fear, for Philippine payment startups
Other VMoney products
But VMoney’s solutions go way beyond the NFC technology. VMoney is an end-to-end fin-tech company that enables businesses and consumers to access, send, and receive money digitally.
It’s easy to use the service. Just sign up your email address on VMoney’s platform, and provide personal information and a valid ID. Once verified, you can top up your account through web banking, over-the-counter facilities, scratch cards, or ATMs.
You can use your account for various transactions – from transferring funds to other VMoney members and paying your bills to buying prepaid credits for your phone.
The company has a range of products you can avail of like the VMoney Prepaid MasterCard, which allows you to shop online or at retail stores, and the VMoney Privilege Card that you can use within the network of VMoney-affiliated merchants if you want rewards.
What’s good about the company is that it caters to Filipinos who do not own bank accounts. You can open an account with VMoney without a minimum deposit. “It’s available to everyone, everywhere, no matter what status, class, and location,” notes Santos.
Public adoption
Despite having low barriers to entry, one of the first challenges for VMoney was growing its user base. Santos admits adoption was a bit slow in the beginning, although this is understandable, he says.
The public is generally averse to products and services it doesn’t quite understand. This is especially true if you’re dealing with the transfer of money online. Can the site be trusted? What if your account is hacked?
But Santos argues minimizing the use of cash will do more good than harm. How often do you hear about incidents of robbery and burglary? Minimizing the use of cash won’t end crime, but it sure will take away the incentive for it.
Therefore, for cloud-based companies like VMoney, building the public’s trust is key.
Being one of the most successful anti-fraud experts in the country, consulting with everyone from banks to large corporations and even the government, Santos made sure that VMoney is licensed, accredited, and certified by the regulatory bodies in the Philippines such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and even the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. Not to mention, VMoney is getting an Electronic Money Issuance or EMI license, but their application is still pending, Santos tells Tech in Asia.
“Both consumers and businesses can absolutely contact these agencies to validate that we can operate here,” he says.
Santos also took extra precautions to ensure VMoney transactions are safe and secure. VMoney uses the highest encryption on all data and transactions – matching, even exceeding, encryption and protection used by financial institutions worldwide, according to him.
He actually sees VMoney as a way to curb corruption and fraud because all transactions are transparent. VMoney users can access the detailed history of their transactions throughout the life of their accounts.
“As our brand becomes more familiar to consumers and businesses, and prove to the market that our products and services are worthy, trust and faith will come in time and rather quickly,” Santos says, noting that the team has seen incredible traction since its launch in October last year.
“I’m extremely excited that we’re now in the process of implementing almost two million customized cards in the next six months for all the merchants/businesses that we’ve brought on board. It’s a true testament to our technology, as businesses from all industries quickly understand the value we offer.”
Ultimately, he says VMoney is motivated by one goal: to make Filipinos’ lives easier by addressing their basic needs – like convenient access to transportation. If you don’t have to line up to pay, wouldn’t you rather just take the trains?
See: Philippines weighs options for regulating Uber after public outcry against crackdown
This post This entrepreneur wants to help solve congestion in the Philippine public transport system appeared first on Tech in Asia.
This entrepreneur wants to help solve congestion in the Philippine public transport system
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