Makatizen Card Launched – Makati to become Country’s First Connected City

The Makati City government launched yesterday the Makatizen Card which will allow the city’s 500,000 residents to access city government services and transact with the LGU – receive cash allowances, stipends, and other benefits – while allowing the cardholders to pay fees and taxes, remittances, and other financial transactions. The Makatizen Card also functions as an ATM card and is considered as a valid government ID card. The Card is in collaborations with Globe Telecom, GCash (G-Xchange Inc. or GXI), and iBayad Online Ventures.

Around 1,000 functioning sample Makatizen Cards were given out and tested yesterday morning. Beside the city residents, Makati City government employees can use their Makatizen Card to receive salaries and allowances.

The Makatizen Card comes with a Near-Field Communication (NFC) feature that allows city offices equipped with iBayad machine readers to verify the identity of residents and Makati City employees in a single tap. It stores the information which easily identifies the card holder availing of various city government services without the need to present additional documents.

GXI (GCash) will serve as the financial service provider for the Makatizen Card while iBayad will deploy the mPOS terminals and build the merchant network where the cards will be accepted.

Makati Mayor Abigail Binay: “The Makatizen Card goes beyond providing Makati citizens with instant access to essential services of the city government, which in itself is a major leap forward for the city. The wide range of digital and mobile services offers the people of Makati  more convenient and cost-effective ways of meeting their day-to-day needs and obligations.”

Ernest Cu, Globe President and CEO: “For the Philippines to truly become a digital nation, we need to fully take advantage of new digital opportunities and innovations to enable growth in every corner of our country.  We laud the vision of the Makati City government whose support of this initiative is critical to build the city-wide digital ecosystem, a step towards the realization of our dream for the Philippines to become an admired nation.”

Albert Tinio, President of GXI (GCash): “Each Makatizen Card carries the features of the GCash mobile wallet but is also customized to be used in the city-wide local merchant network.  All services that they will get in Makati City, whether it is payment of taxes, cash allowances for health and other benefits, etc. will be directly credited to this GCash wallet that is linked to  the card.  They don’t have to carry anything except this ID and their mobile phone.”

iBayad Founder and CEO Paolo G. Saycon: “For us, the Makatizen Card Project is as much a social endeavour, as it is a business venture. This undertaking is aligned with iBayad’s purpose of developing socially relevant and meaningful financial innovations that will transform the way people pay. Our objective is to accelerate the adoption and transformation of every consumer’s traditional spending behaviour from cash-centric to electronic payments.”

More on Globe Telecom

Globe has been ramping up network investments in a bid to amplify benefits of its new spectrum assets and enhance mobile services particularly for data. The company has announced a capital spend of $750 million for the year in an effort to continuously improve mobile and data services.  Globe is also aggressively building on its fiber broadband services, aiming to create an internet super highway nationwide. The company aims to deploy fiber optics in 20,000 barangays by 2020 which will provide ultra-fast internet access to around 2 million homes nationwide.

Globe Business, the enterprise information and communications technology (ICT) arm of Globe, is leading the way in encouraging local government units like Makati City to adopt the integration of ICT and governance as a means of improving the delivery of government services and exchange of information.  The said initiative supports Globe’s drive to transform the Philippines into a digital nation by instilling the importance of eGovernance to offices ranging from the local government units up to the national government.

One of the capabilities derived from an improved mobile and broadband infrastructure is the creation of a city-wide cashless ecosystem wherein e-payment methods such as e-money and debit/credit cards are utilized instead of physical cash.  This will benefit not only the residents but also schools, hospitals, government offices, transportation facilities, and other micro, small, and medium-size enterprises.

The Makatizen Card is a product of the Makati City government, Globe Telecom, GCash (GXI) and iBayad, as part of the thrust of Makati City to be the first connected city.

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Source: Press release from Globe Telecom Corporate Communications

Photos from source.

Title photo caption: (L-R): Makati City Vice Mayor Monique Lagdameo; SVP for Enterprise Peter Maquera; Chief Commercial Officer Albert de Larrazabal; Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu; Makati City Mayor Abby Binay; GXI President Abet Tinio; Makati City Administrator Claro Certeza; iBayad CEO Paulo Saycon.

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Globe Telecom’s Rogue One Mask, Create Courage Campaign Finalist in Tangrams Effectiveness Spikes Awards

Globe Telecom’s “Rogue One Mask”, created by Publicis JimenezBasic, was shortlisted as a finalist in the Tangrams Effectiveness@Spikes Awards. The Tangrams (formerly Asian Marketing Effectiveness and Strategy Awards) are Asia Pacific’s foremost awards honoring clients and their agencies for marketing strategies that deliver solid results to transform businesses and brands.

The annual awards are evaluated by a panel of top client and agency professionals who review the submissions against stringent criteria to determine the winners.

The Tangrams awards will be held at Spikes Asia on 27 September at Suntec Singapore.

Globe stated (in a press release sent to @miniphils) that instead of focusing on revenue-generating marketing activities like for-sale merchandising, the company launched “Create.Courage.” (or #CreateCourage), a campaign designed to advocate for non-judgmental understanding and to celebrate bravery during struggle.

If you recall, the YouTube video-short showed the younger sibling of a brother wearing a Stormtrooper helmet/mask walking to school and inside the classroom, at home, during play, in bed and even while brushing their teeth. When the youngster enters the classroom the following day, all the classmates were all wearing the same Stormtrooper headgear. Only then did the she reveal what was inside the headgear… Well, it’s best you watch it (again).

In the press release, Globe said it created the video to raise awareness for the plight of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), which needed to raise funds for the rehabilitation of its pediatric oncology clinic. Globe enlisted the support of its millions of viewers to donate to the clinic, so that the hospital could make it a warmer, more cheerful environment conducive to the children’s recovery.

Globe Chief Commercial Officer Albert De Larrazabal said, “Rogue One is the story of unlikely heroes who banded together to do unexpected heroic feats. Our story pays homage to people like that, who persevere through untold odds. In particular, we wanted to recognize children who are facing tremendous challenges but whose spirit and heart keep them going, determined to prevail.  We are honored by the recognition from Tangrams and grateful to have been given the chance to try and positively impact the real world.”

The first time I watched it, I had to shed a tear; or two; or a pail! LOL!

Incidentally, there are also five more organizations from the Philippines in the shortlist, namely:

• Splash Corporation for “The Beautiful Truth” by Publicis JimenezBasic
• Smart Communications for “Accepted” By Dentsu Jayme Syfu
• Unilever for “The Good Experiment” by Dentsu Jayme Syfu
• MMDA for “IsThereAProblemOfficer.ph” by McCann Worldgroup
• CARMMA* for “Correcting History” by TBWASantiago Mangada Puno

*Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang

Globe is competing against 102 organizations in 14 countries, namely Australia (24 entries), China (16), Hong Kong (3), India (13), Indonesia (1), Japan (2), Malaysia (1), New Zealand (7), Pakistan (1), Singapore (11), Taiwan (5), Thailand (5), and Vietnam (5).

For the complete list, please visit www.tangrams.asia/general/2017-effectiveness.

Congratulations to Globe Telecom. Hope you guys win the Tangrams Effectiveness@Spikes Awards for your “Rouge One Mask” / Create Courage campaign entry.

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Sources: Press release from Globe Telecom’s Corporate Communications | Tangrams Asia | Globe YouTube Channel

Photo – Screenshot from YouTube video

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