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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (2 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
Papers (2016)
Many developing countries provide conditional cash transfers (CCTs) for their poorest families. In the Philippines, CCT use has expanded rapidly such that in five years the amount of transfers increased by 3,300%, with PHP34 billion (US$801 million) disbursed in 2013. This expansion of deliveries has complicated government logistics. In an effort to reach the poor in all areas of the country, the government partnered with the telecommunication firm Globe’s network of GCash merchants to provide direct cash payouts to CCT beneficiaries. This article investigates the CCT implementation through the cash-based GCash Remit system to determine its effectiveness, efficiency, and security. A cost comparison was done between the GCash Remit mode of CCT delivery and the potential use of noncash mobile money (m-money) platforms already in the market. The study is based on field observations, a randomized survey of 194 CCT beneficiaries, interviews with CCT program implementers and m-money providers, and scrutiny of the tariff data of m-money providers.
    Cover page: M-money as Conduit for Conditional CashTransfers in the PhilippinesCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    Final Reports (2015)

    Many developing countries are providing conditional cash transfers (CCT) to address development challenges among its poorest people. In the Philippines, this has been expanded significantly, such that in a span of five years, the amount of cash transfers to the poor has increased by 3300%, with Php34B given for 2013 alone according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). This rapid expansion has made the government logistics for delivering cash transfers more complicated and difficult. As such, it has partnered with GRemit to tap GCash’s network of merchants to help reach the poor in all areas in the country.

    This study evaluated the delivery of conditional cash transfers thru GRemit by initially applying Van Dijk’s (2009) model of digital access through a random survey of CCT beneficiaries in one province in the country. Thereafter, cost comparisons were also done to determine if a mobile money system is indeed more efficient, secure and less costly, based on interviews with program implementers and randomized surveys of 194 CCT beneficiaries in San Jose, Mindoro Occidental. Subsequent field observations of financial service and mobile service infrastructures in four other municipalities where CCT was being implemented were also done to determine the technical feasibility of the program in a broader context.

    The study findings suggest that using m-money for CCT is already technologically possible, and may be financially more cost effective in comparison to the amount currently paid by DSWD for delivering cash transfers. However, this is not yet possible in all communities in the Philippines, since the support infrastructure for m-money services varies from province to province. Given that there are already various m-money providers in the marketplace, considerations of possible m-money conduits can also be more location specific. Furthermore, using m-money for CCT can be even be more advantageous if local m-money ecosystems are strengthened and further developed in order to reduce transaction costs by retaining CCT in m- money form. Developing that ecosystem, however, requires further interventions, such as possible limitations on where the cash transfers can be spent and making arrangements for private vendors to encourage purely m-money transactions in the future.

      Cover page: Using Mobile Money as a Conditional Cash Transfer Conduit in the Philippines (Final Report)Creative Commons 'BY-NC' version 4.0 license
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