Market Event - Partnership between Coins.ph and 7-eleven shows growing synergies between retail and wallet

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Philippines' low banking and credit card penetration of 27% and 2% respectively, is one of the major factors impeding growth of ecommerce sector in the country. In order to circumvent this barrier, online retailers are providing consumers alternate ways to make online purchases such as Ewallets and payment gateways.

An emerging trend can be observed across emerging and developed markets where retail companies and Fintech firms are collaborating to introduce solutions that enable the unbanked population to make non-cash payments. This not only helps in expanding the consumer base but is also bringing in operational efficiencies and benefits to both retail chains and Fintech companies.

Coins.ph mobile wallet service collaborated with 7-Eleven convenience store chain, to enable its users to add funds to their digital wallets at any of the 1600 outlets of 7-Eleven present across the Philippines.

When consumers initiate a deposit on Coins.ph app, they receive a 7­Connect reference number that has to be given to the cashier of any 7-Eleven store. Once payment is done, the funds are instantly loaded to consumers’ digital wallets.

The service targets the significant number of unbanked population of the country, who can then use the mobile wallet to make purchases, pay bills, remit money, and load their prepaid cards through Coins.ph digital wallet.

PayNXT360 expects more such partnerships between retail stores and Fintech companies to take place over the next five years to help bring last mile connectivity to the unbanked consumers. We believe large retail chains are better positioned to capitalize on this trend as they have an extensive store network already in place. The move is beneficial to both the parties as it helps the mobile wallet service providers to expand its customer base and improve ROI, while increase in retail store footfalls can help in generating more sales for the retailer.