Belgacom International Carrier Services and G-Xchange sign agreement for international remittances

Belgacom International Carrier Services (BICS), a leading global provider of voice, data and value added services and G-Xchange (GXI), a fully-owned mobile-commerce subsidiary of Philippines’ Globe Telecom, have signed an agreement to expand GXI’s existing number of remittance corridors, using BICS’ HomeSend Remittance Hub.

The HomeSend service, created in partnership with eServGlobal, provides a mobile-centric approach to international remittance which represents a significant new step in mobile payment. It allows subscribers of any mobile operator connected to HomeSend to transfer money electronically via a cellular phone to a GCASH subscriber.

This new cooperation, therefore, provides increased choice and convenience for Filipinos living or working overseas when sending money home to their families and friends in the Philippines.

The first interoperability tests between GCash, the fastest growing mobile wallet service in Asia, and HomeSend, BICS’ mobile centric hub for international remittances, have been successfully completed.

Three corridors will initially be launched in the coming weeks, namely between Belgium, UK and USA, and the Philippines, but will be extended in the near future towards other sending markets with large numbers of overseas Filipinos.

Frederic Schepens, EVP Strategic Business Development at Belgacom ICS says: “This agreement is the next big achievement in the international remittance market, opening up the industry beyond the limits of existing proprietary networks and enabling consumers to send or receive money securely, instantly and cost-effectively, with the convenience of doing so using their own mobile phones”.

Rizza Maniego-Eala, GXI President says: “The affiliation of GCASH with BICS’ HomeSend platform allows us to expand our mobile remittance hub connections. This partnership enables us to ride on the global mobile remittance expansion of BICS, providing more money transfer channels for Filipinos living or working abroad.”

About BICS and HomeSend

Belgacom International Carrier Services SA/NV (BICS) is a leading global carrier of voice, data and value added services to over 500 wireless, wireline and service providers through sales offices in Brussels, Bern, Dubai, Singapore and New York.
Belgacom ICS is at the forefront of the international communications industry, acting as a catalyst for growth, both in terms of traffic and reach. The company aims to enable global interworking across all networks, technologies and services. As a result of this approach and the joint ventures with Swisscom ICS and MTN ICS, Belgacom ICS is now part of the top 5 of worldwide wholesale voice carriers and is the world leader in data transit services.

For more information, please visit www.belgacom-ics.com.

The HomeSend service, based on eServGlobal’s technology, is the first mobile centric global hubbing service for international remittance, airtime exchange and roaming recharge, endorsed by the GSM Association.

For more information on HomeSend, please see www.homesend.com.

About GXI and GCASH

G-Xchange, Inc. (GXI) is a pillar in m-commerce and a fully-owned subsidiary of Globe Telecom which is a leading full service telecommunications company in the Philippines. GXI pioneered the revolutionary model in cardless and cashless mobile commerce service called GCASH which was launched in the Philippines in October 2004. GCASH is an internationally-acclaimed micro payment service which transforms a mobile phone into a virtual wallet for secure, fast, and convenient money transfers at the speed and cost of a text message. Since GCASH’s launch, GXI has established a wide network of local and international partners that includes government agencies, utility companies, cooperatives, insurance companies, remittance companies, universities, and commercial establishments which have agreed to accept GCASH as a means of payment for products and services.

About eServGlobal

eServGlobal provides solutions for Smarter Transaction Management, driving more value from each telecom transaction. Mobile, fixed, Internet and multi-play communications providers use our world-leading, real-time capabilities to significantly increase revenues, customer loyalty and expenditure efficiency. Specializing in agile convergent charging, mobile payment and retention solutions, we have the largest convergent charging and payments installed bases in the world. More than 80 customers, in over 50 countries, perform over 2.4 billion transactions per day using our solutions.