Mercy Corps and BPI Globe BanKO Win GSMA Global Mobile Award for “Best Use of Mobile in Emergency or Humanitarian Situations”

BPI Globe BanKO, the Philippines’ first mobile microsavings bank, and the global humanitarian organization Mercy Corps have been awarded GSMA’s 2015 Global Mobile Award for “Best use of mobile in emergency or humanitarian situations.” The award recognizes the innovative role mobile technology played in distributing a total of $2.3 million in emergency cash assistance to more than 25,000 typhoon-affected households in Western, Central and Eastern Visayas regions after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

“In implementing our emergency response effort in the Philippines, BPI Globe BanKO has been a tremendous partner,” says Erynn Carter, Philippines country director for Mercy Corps. “BanKO’s mobile platform allowed us to provide thousands of hard-hit families with much-needed cash after the typhoon, and in the process introduce them to their first formal bank account.”

Beneficiaries of the program were enrolled in BanKO mobile savings accounts, through which they received three separate electronic cash transfers, totaling 3,950 Philippine Pesos (about $90). Cash transfers after an emergency enable people to rebuild their homes and livelihoods, support the community’s economic recovery, and help reduce families’ vulnerability to future shocks.

“People who live in poverty, especially those who live in rural areas, have difficulty accessing traditional banks,” says Rob I. Nazal, chief development officer for BanKO. “By providing banking services in digital form, we reduce the transaction costs significantly, allowing us to bring them into the formal economy and help make their financial lives a little easier.”

An estimated 80 percent of Filipinos do not have regular access to a bank account. Nearly half of those without bank accounts – more than 40 million people – live on $2 a day or less.

About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global humanitarian agency saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places. With a network of experienced professionals in more than
40 countries, we partner with local communities to put bold ideas into action to help people recover, overcome hardship and build better lives. Now, and for the future. www.mercycorps.org

About BPI Globe BanKO
BPI Globe BanKO (BanKO) is the Philippines’ first fully mobile savings bank advocating financial inclusion for the unbanked. www.banko.com.ph.