By Apol Tokwator
MANILA – If you’re a cryptocurrency enthusiast in the Philippines, there has been much to cheer about over the last six months, from the newly formed Blockchain Association of the Philippines with UnionBank Chairman Justin Ortiz as its first head and the opening of the Blockchain Space Manila to the announcement of the licensing of up to 25 cryptocurrency exchanges in a special economic zone.
While these milestones are worth celebrating, they can be misleading for cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Because you’re surrounded by such news, you likely overestimate how many Filipinos are adopting this technology outside of your own circle.
Don’t believe me? Try out this thought experiment: Go outside and ask the first person you see on the street whether they’ve heard of Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. I’d be willing to bet – in your cryptocurrency of choice, of course – that the person is familiar with Bitcoin or maybe even other digital currencies, but has almost certainly never transacted with any. Therein lies our problem: While cryptocurrencies are now a fixture in our tech and business news, no coin has made the jump from the headlines to our hands – each and everyone one of them is still just an conversation piece (i.e. “Do you think Bitcoin is a bubble?”) than anything the average Filipino derives any real financial utility from.
In short, digital currencies are still a niche interest of a few early adopters – in an article for Forbes, author Ari Paul argues that it’s 1994 in cryptocurrency because, like the internet then, both boast adoption rates of less than 1% (the internet had a global adoption rate of .25% that year, while we are at .5% with cryptocurrency as of 2017). This situation is unfortunate. For all their hype, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can change the world for the better. For overseas Filipinos, for example, sending remittances via Bitcoin can save remitters and their families up to ten percent of the fees that most traditional financial institutions would charge. And for OFWs working abroad to create a better life for their families, such savings can translate into a meaningful difference in their lives.
For both Filipino individuals and businesses across the Philippines to realize the benefits of cryptocurrency, we need to move beyond what we’re doing now. We should not just content ourselves with being a niche community, praising one another in an echo chamber. We need to go mainstream. This task is of course easier said than done, but we need to look to best practices from abroad to see how we might accelerate this process. Given that brick-and-mortar retail is still the center of life for Filipino consumers, one useful case study to look at comes from Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s FAMA Group partnered with Pundi X, a tech company headquartered out of Indonesia that specializes in point-of-sale systems that can accept cryptocurrency. As part of the partnership, the FAMA Group installed Pundi X POS devices at four of their restaurants – the Hive Cafe, SUPAFOOD, Sohofama, and Locofama. Via the Pundi X POS, customers can spend BTC, ETH, NPXS, and other cryptocurrencies to purchase their food and drinks through either fiat currency, a mobile wallet, or a Pundi X PASS card, many of which were given out pre-loaded to attendees at RISE as part of a promotion.
The Pundi X POS deployment at select FAMA Group restaurants was a monumental one: Before this point, most cryptocurrencies were still largely an abstraction in cyberspace for even the most diehard of enthusiasts. But now, they had value in the real world. You could now avail of a delicious, healthy meal with cryptocurrency. The financial revolution which had started online had now come offline, where the greater majority of consumers still are. That this milestone occurred in Hong Kong, arguably the financial capital of Asia, shows how far cryptocurrency is coming along: It’s in the big leagues now.
We, of course, still have a long way to go here at home. Business leaders in charge of brick-and-mortar retailers in the the Philippines should look to the FAMA Group for inspiration. As business leaders from a traditional industry, it was certainly not easy for them to welcome an innovation like the Pundi X POS into their daily operations, but the risk paid off handsomely. Their individual restaurants now gain a new demographic of cryptocurrency consumers eager to spend their coins via the Pundi X POS because it may be the first time transacting with them in person. And on a brand level, the FAMA Group advances their positioning as one of the more forward-thinking companies in its space.
Companies in the Philippines need to follow suit, particularly retailers located in malls, where most of our consumer foot traffic passes through. Embracing innovations like Pundi X POS has a two-fold benefit: We would not only give our local cryptocurrency enthusiasts an opportunity to spend their coins in retail, but we would also introduce the technology to the wider community who would benefit from it the most.
About Apol Tokwator
Apol Tokwator is a Business Enthusiast and the Founder of Neinee90s, a platform where people can find goods that represents the past. She also actively writes think piece that would be helpful for subject readers on the side
