m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited again (Part 2)

On my next m-Commerce article: G-Cash revisited out on July 8, Friday

Last week, I organized an Online Web Seminar (Webinar) on m-Commerce for Microfinance with the assistance of Lakan Leadership Institute. We quickly came up with the m-Commerce Webinar in response to the sudden influx of visitors to Mobile Tulay, thanks to the Inq7.net article. We wanted visitors to access more information on m-Commerce for Microfinance and give Webinar participants an opportunity to ask questions about m-Commerce applications in the Philippines.

The Webinar went quite well. We had intelligent questions from our Webinar participants that lead to a good online discussion. We have more Webinars coming up in the next few weeks.

But prior to the Webinar, we had some preparations to do. Among them was the method for receiving registration fees. And what better way to receive registration fees than through m-Commerce services!

I had no problem receiving our Webinar registration fee through G-Cash. That was easy.

But via my Smart Money – ah, that was another story. Aside from giving participants two m-Commerce options for sending their registration fee, I was also especially interested in trying out Smart Money anew – what with the latest attempts at simplifying Smart Money registration which I discussed two weeks ago.

I had not used my Smart Money account for some time. I used it when I was still with FIT-ED. That time, I had a small remittance business with my friend in Malaysia.

Time to wake up my Smart Money account!

Using the STK (SIM Toolkit), I did a balance inquiry. I had to recall what my PIN was and I had to figure out if I used 4-digits, 6-digits or 8-digits. For all my many attempts, I got two responses via SMS: one was "invalid PIN", the second was "Unable to process transaction".

Well, let’s try calling the Smart Money hotline (15177 on a Smart cellphone) and see what the problem could be.

I spoke to a customer service representative named Tim. I asked her whether there was an "expiration" period where a period of inactivity with a Smart Money account will "suspend" a Smart Money account. She confirmed that there was such a built-in system procedure that renders a "dormant" Smart Money account suspended.

After some verification, she confirmed that my Smart Money account was suspended.

First concern: I requested for a re-activation of my Smart Money account.
Tim said I should check within 24-hours to see if the account has been re-activated. Almost one week after my conversation with Tim, my Smart Money account has not been re-activated.

Second concern: Out of curiosity (being my normal usyosero self), I asked Tim for information on how many months it takes before an inactive Smart Money account is suspended. She explained that it depends on the type of Smart Money account. For example, there are Smart Money accounts that are issued by companies for purposes of payroll disbursement. Mine, on the other hand, was an ordinary individual Smart Money account via Addict Mobile. At the end of it all, (by now, my friend) Tim explained that she cannot divulge the number of months before a dormant account is suspended.

I also inquired via e-mail about the number of dormant months before an account is suspended. I asked about whether dormant accounts with, say P10,000, are also suspended. And if so, where does this P10,000 go when the Smart Money account is suspended.

I still don’t have the answers. I hope to find out in the near future.

In the meantime, I will accept Webinar registration fees via G-Cash. And try once again to call the Smart Money hotline and make a second request for re-activation of my Smart Money account.

Wish me luck!

Ka edong
da em-konomist

Read: m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited (Part 1), Adbertisement Muna
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Smart Padala, Smart Money, G-Cash