Asia United Bank (AUB), one of the country’s fastest-growing universal banks, sees competition in the electronic wallet (e-wallet) space to intensify further this year.
The COVID-19 global pandemic has led to restrictions on mobility. This has driven more Filipinos to embrace digital tools such as e-wallets.
Even without the restrictions, however, AUB President Manuel Gomez said e-wallets and mobile transactions will continue to proliferate as many consumers who made the digital pivot are already discovering and growing accustomed to cashless and contactless modes.
This, in fact, has led to shifts in consumer attitudes, behaviors, and consumption patterns.
In November 2019, two months before the COVID-19 outbreak, AUB unveiled its own digital wallet, HelloMoney, which enables account holders to perform various financial transactions such as fund transfer to any bank account via InstaPay, bills payment, prepaid mobile load, and remittance via PeraPadala to any accredited cash-out partner. Users simply need to download the HelloMoney mobile app from Google Play Store, Apple App Store, and Huawei AppGallery.
After the country implemented an ECQ on March 15, 2020, AUB saw its HelloMoney transactions steadily surging even without spending on heavy advertising and promotions compared with competition. As of end-December 2020, HelloMoney registration has already skyrocketed by 2,000 percent and the value of transactionshas breached P7 billion.
