The importance of banking regulators – and how mobile operators co-operate with them – was highlighted by Rizza Maniego-Eala (pictured), president of G-Xchange, during this morning’s panel session at MMS 2010.

A regulatory decision by the central bank of the Philippines has smoothed the way for G-Xchange, the wholly-owned m-commerce subsidiary of leading operator Globe, to pay out and receive cash from mobile money subscribers.

Previously G-Xchange needed a separate licence for each one of the 15,000 agent outlets who offer its G-Cash mobile financial service. A relaxation of the rules by the central bank meant a single licence for G-Xchange, rather than one for every agent, has been sufficient for cash-in and cash-out services since the start of this year.

“We are now by far the largest remittance company in the Philippines,” said Maniego-Eala. The new-found regulatory flexibility has fed through into a lower cost to providing its services, according to Maniego-Eala.

G-Xchange’s agent network is made up of specialist cellular phone shops but also other sorts of retailers such as beauty parlours and general hardware stores who all sell airtime on behalf of Globe Telecom.