Peppermint Innovation (ASX: PIL) has reportedly been granted a license in order to operate as an Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) by the Central Bank of the Philippines, “in one of the biggest regulatory milestones achieved by the company.”
The EMI license authorizes the company “to deliver e-wallet services through its bizmoto mobile App – allowing any Filipino, not just bizmoto agents, to use the bizmoto platform to receive digital money and access digital services.”
The digital “revolution” is with us and the bizmoto platform can “now facilitate any e-money transaction and service open-loop e-wallet accounts, providing Filipinos with a convenient and secure way to receive digital money and services.”
Chris Kain, Peppermint’s Managing Director and CEO, stated:
“The issuance of an EMI licence to PBI will, ultimately, deliver significant value to the company and the communities we operate in. We’re excited to share the BSP’s vision that 50% of all retail transactions that occur throughout the Philippines are digital by 2023, and that 70% of Filipino adults have formal accounts by 2023,”
Neal Cross, Non Executive Director at Peppermint remarked:
“We have now secured our keystone for the licensing strategy in the Philippines, on top of our previous Finance License enabling lending to micro entrepreneurs, we can now supply cash in, cash out to an open wallet and deliver micro lending to mass consumers. Basically, we cover most of the features that a bank has at a fraction of the operating cost, enabling us to scale at a greater rate, that can only be good for our end clients and partners.”
As noted by the firm’s management, Peppermint Innovation Limited is “a company focused on the commercialization of a proprietary Mobile Banking, Payments and Remittance technology, designed for banks, mobile money operators, remittance companies, payment processors, retailers/merchants, credit card companies, and microfinance institutions.”
The focus of their initial efforts is in the Philippines, “a country with a population of circa 100 million people and 105 million mobile phones in use, where over 4 years has been spent developing and integrating the technology which is currently being used by three leading commercial banks.”
Peppermint aims “to leverage a successful commercialization strategy in the Philippines and build on established relationships in order to develop a commercial presence utilizing the Mobile Banking, Payments and Remittance Platform further across Asia and beyond.”