Chinese fintech firm Ant Financial Services Group, part of e-commerce giant Alibaba, announced on Monday its payment subsidiary Alipay has launched a blockchain-based remittance service for transfers between individuals in Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Hong Kong-headquartered Alipay has developed the service together with GCash, the mobile payment unit of Philippines-based firm Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. The service is powered by blockchain technology and is able to process remittances faster, cheaper and more transparently than traditional money transfers, wrote Ant Financial.
Users of Alipay’s mobile application will be able to send money to GCash users in the Philippines through their smartphones. The decision to launch the digital wallet is based on the large number of Filipinos who work in Hong Kong and transfer cash to their families back home.
Service for Filipino expats
In order to send funds across borders, individuals currently have to queue for hours at booths and fill out forms. With the new remittance service, money will be transferred within seconds at rates which will be further reduced in the coming three-month trial period, according to Ant Financial’s press release.
“GCash is building a cashless ecosystem to make financial services affordable and accessible to every Filipino as we aim to provide the Philippines’ underserved market with convenient options for load top-up, remittance, and cashless payments for goods and services, among others,” commented Anthony Thomas, CEO of GCash operator Mynt.
Partnering bank for the initiative is UK-based Standard Chartered Bank. Global head Lisa Robins commented that the Philippines is the third-biggest remittance market worldwide with inflows of USD 33 billion in 2017 alone and expressed her belief that the new collaboration will successfully provide banking services to the unbanked and underbanked.
Blockchain vs. crypto
The report on the new service comes a few weeks after Ant Financial secured around USD 14 billion from Chinese and international investors. The Alibaba subsidiary said it will use the money to expand its globalization plans and develop technology, including blockchain.
Speaking on the decentralized ledger which serves as a basis for cryptocurrencies, Alibaba founder Jack Ma claimed “[b]lockchain technology could change our world more than people imagine”, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Virtual currencies and Bitcoin (BTC) in particular, however, might be powered by speculation, Ma said and added that BTC is a potential bubble.
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