Ericsson goes into OFW Remittance Service

The same company that brought us the Xperia Arc is also entering the financial services industry. The new company, Ericsson Money wants you to ditch Western Union but with a few conditions.

It’s a one-way street — you can only open an Ericsson Money account if you are in Germany, UK, Italy, France, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

I tried opening an account (just to test it) and maybe send money to my relatives in the province but I’m locked out. It’s pretty obvious that the service is targeted towards OFWs in those countries since they’ve partnered with Globe and Smart for the local exchange (you receive money transfers from Ericsson Money via Smart Money or Globe GCash).

And if the tutorials videos they put up on their website tells it all, the service isn’t much different from the likes of Western Union. In any case, this is more like a battle for who offers the cheapest remittance rates and who can remit the money the fastest.

The Central Bank of the Philippines estimates a total of $18.7 billion in OFW remittances for the year 2010. Getting just 1% market share is already huge (Php8 billion) and I’m thinking Ericsson knows that already.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

12 Comments

alyaya says:

13 years ago

i very like
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Numb Hands says:

13 years ago

I don’t think it’s a nice move e di ba nga halos hindi sumikat yung Ericsson mobile phones nila. Atsaka saturated na yung finance features like sa Smart Money. Ito kasing Sony masyado maselan sa proprietary products nila kaya ang mahal ng accessories, so walang bumibili tuloy ng products nila.
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Jonaflormicfren says:

13 years ago

It is another services that will carry and advertise their name.
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Gadget Meister says:

13 years ago

I think Ericsson is building a test case for their NFC devices and technologies. They want to show that their is indeed a market for such wherein money changes hands without the need of physical transfer or any intermediary entity like a bank or money-transfer company like Western Union.

Let’s just hope that they won’t charge anymore on top of what Globe and Smart will charge when you encash your G-Cash or Smart Money or else they won’t find any loyal OFW customers.
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june says:

13 years ago

Nice explanation there guru yuga!
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Benchmark says:

13 years ago

and user please read the article first and try to research about the company. hinde bara lang ng bara sa pag comment…

Pero Yuga you got me there also, regarding sa 1%! hehehe OFW is in dollar, and your 1% amount is in Peso…very tricky! hehehehe

Anyway thanks for the info. I never thought a gadget company will enter remittance service.
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nice says:

13 years ago

hehhe… tama si sir Yuga…
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Abe Olandres says:

13 years ago

@user – Correction lang po sa correction nyo sa akin.

“$180 million is Php8 billion.” $187 million x Php43/$1 = Php8 billion

“Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture established on October 1, 2001[1] by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones.”

At ako po talaga nag-sulat nito, promise! :D
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poche says:

13 years ago

dapat kasi yuga nilagay mo “half of the company” para mas naintindihan ni user lol. mukhang bata pa si user nun 2001 at di na naabutan yun ericsson.

user says:

13 years ago

Corrections:
1% of 18 billion is 180,000,000 or 180 million.

Ericsson is not “Sony Ericsson”. Sony Ericsson created the Xperia Arc.

Please hire better ghost writers.
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KennyV says:

13 years ago

Another reason to remain bullish in Philippine stocks.
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Miguel Paraz says:

13 years ago

I’m surprised they went retail. They already have a payment solution for mobile operators:

http://www.ericsson.com/article/ipx_1261085470_c
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