Reply from Mia of VMobileSolutions

Hi Jacqui,

Yes, we have an existing micro-remittance service available on the Chikka Messenger version 4 called i$end. It is a web service that can be accessed from and is linked to the said instant messenger. PayPal and Moneybookers users can purchase ‘i$end credits’ which can be used for sending prepaid load credits, game and internet credits, Smart Money or electronic gift vouchers to their friends and family in the Philippines.

Our money remittance service offers micro denominations, namely P500, P1000, P2000 and P5000. The US dollar amount paid by the sender is computed based on the exchange rate plus a small handling fee that covers the printing and courier fees of the card, fees charged by the payment gateways (PayPal or Moneybookers), 24x7 customer support, fees to remit the funds to the Smart Money account of the beneficiary, and other operational costs. We charge $3.48 to remit P500-P2000 while we charge $5.99 to remit P5000.

All the sender needs to do is to fill up a form on the web by providing personal details such as name, address and a contact number plus details of the beneficiary. (A beneficiary should be a Smart subscriber in order to receive funds). On the first transaction, we call the sender and beneficiary in order to verify the information. The beneficiary details will be uploaded to the Smart Money system. The beneficiary will receive an SMS notification regarding the money sent to his Smart Money account. Average turnaround time takes 1 day for the first transaction. The Smart Money personalized card and PIN mailer will be printed and mailed to the beneficiary within 5-10 days. Succeeding transactions will be completed within a few minutes. If the beneficiary already has a Smart Money card which is tied to the mobile phone number provided by the sender on the first transaction, then a card will no longer be printed out. They can encash immediately at any Banco De Oro ATM.

Regards,

Mia

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I logged in to my Chikka Messenger account (version 4) and an icon of a Peso sign and cellphone directed me to the i$end page. It didn't work at first, but it worked on the second time. You can buy i$end credits from PayPal and Moneybookers and use the i$end credits for sending money to a Smart Money beneficiary. When I clicked on the icon for buying i$end credits from PayPal, I got an error. I logged off Chikka and logged in again. This time, I couldn't even get to the i$end page. "The page cannot be displayed".

As of this time, 11:39 am, October 26, 2006, the i$end system does not work. If I were an OFW wanting to send money, I don't think I would want to rely on this service. Unreliable.

I'll try again later to see if it works.