Globe Telecom signs partnership with Rocket Internet’s Lazada

Globe Telecom President and CEO Ernest Cu (left) and Lazada Founder and CEO
 Maximilian Bittner (right) together with Globe SVP for Consumer Mobile Marketing
 Issa Cabreira (center) after the partnership MoU signing between Globe and Lazada.

Number one Philippine mobile brand Globe Telecom recently partnered with top online retailer and marketplace Lazada to bring its internationally-acclaimed GCASH mobile wallet to the eCommerce space in South East Asia.

Lazada is owned by Rocket Internet, an internet platform that identifies and builds proven internet business models then transfers them to new, underserved or untapped markets where it seeks to scale them into market leading online companies.

The Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) was signed by Globe Telecom President and CEO Ernest Cu and Lazada Founder and CEO Maximilian Bittner on April 22 in Seoul, South Korea.  In the coming months, it will pave the way for GCASH to be used as a mode of payment in Lazada’s eCommerce website through an open integrated mWallet platform.

“We are excited about this partnership with Lazada because of its customer traffic and the innovation it has done with online shopping.  It is a great opportunity for us to leverage on this collaboration by bringing GCASH at the forefront of eCommerce. By increasing transactions through mWallet, we will once again expand the online ecosystem of Globe and provide our customers with a full digital lifestyle experience,” said Cu.

GCASH is an internationally-acclaimed product of Globe Telecom’s wholly-owned subsidiary G-Xchange, Inc. (GXI) and is among the pioneers of telco-led mWallet in the world.  GXI has also established a wide network of local and international partners that includes government agencies, utility companies, cooperatives, insurance companies, remittance companies, universities, banks, and commercial establishments which accept GCASH as a means of payment for products and services via mobile phone or the internet.

Through mWallet, Globe customers no longer need to own a credit card or even have a bank account to engage in eCommerce.  Instead, they can turn their mobile phone into a virtual wallet to shop at the speed of a text message.

In just barely three years, Lazada has become one of the top B2C eCommerce market places in South East Asia with presence in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

Lazada has over 15,000 merchants, and 1.4 million active customers and is currently valued at US$1.2 billion with US$700 million of investment funding. It has an online footprint of approximately 4 million daily visits to its websites and the largest Facebook following in Southeast Asia with over 12 million fans. 

Globe is very active in forging regional and international partnerships such as Google, Facebook, Viber, Spotify, NBA and recently, online entertainment service HOOQ to drive the growth of its mobile data business.