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| A typical grocery store now offering convenient payments and financial services as a TrueMoney Center. (Image Source: TrueMoney Philippines/ShowbizNest) |
I was a bit surprised when I saw a tarpaulin bearing a brand named TrueMoney
hanging outside the computer shop since last summer. It was then that I learned
that the computer shop has recently added TrueMoney as its newest offer to its
customers where they can conveniently purchase mobile load, pay bills and send money.
Knowing about the brand has reminded me of services with similar features and
convenience operating in different parts of the country and eventually throughout
the online world.
In business terms, the likes of TrueMoney are considered as financial
technology services or simply known as FinTech. And based on what I have read
from a reliable source of information and social media, I have no idea that
these services would quickly become a trend that can serve more particularly
the typical Filipino commoner. Financial technology companies in the
Philippines are exerting their own efforts to make the trend more convenient
and accessible to the masses, and perhaps the best way for them to make it
possible is to expand their own network where customers will not worry about being
impatient when sending money to their loved ones and paying bills to their own
content.
The computer shop where I first learned about TrueMoney is just one of more
than 5,000 small and medium businesses that are capable of offering services
that are similar to those of pawnshops and convenience centers. It is without
question that every transaction you make on a TrueMoney center or any other
service has an additional service charge, but this is what makes TrueMoney more
reliable than any other service today.
Imagine that you are in a grocery store that has been accredited as a
TrueMoney business center and you need to send Php1,000 to your distant cousin
living in Davao City. Aside from the Php1,000 domestic remittance, the computer
attendant will prompt you to add Php20 to your TrueMoney transaction. That's right,
there will be a 2 percent additional charge for every domestic remittance you
can make via TrueMoney. In any case, this states that convenience will not be the
only thing that matters when it comes to trusting the likes of TrueMoney.
