RaKuten Viber said Friday it tapped Globe myBusiness and GCash for a safe and efficient way to order food online through QR codes.
“We’re extremely excited to roll out this new feature on Viber, especially now that people are still encouraged to stay at home amid the ongoing pandemic. With QR codes, both our FoodPH partner merchants and their customers are now able to seamlessly transact with each other. As we’ve made the experience as convenient as possible, it encourages customers to support local businesses and order their food from MSMEs,” said David Tse, senior director of Rakuten Viber.
“And we’re proud that we’re doing this with Globe myBusiness, which is the country’s leading partner for MSMEs, and GCash, which is the leading mobile wallet in the Philippines with at least 30 million subscribers. Our Viber users deserve no less,” he said.
The QR codes have been first made available for merchants on FoodPh, Viber’s own food directory.
Under the partnership, FoodPH merchants can make online food orders more convenient for buyers. To receive payments, they can simply send GCash QR code to customers, who can easily scan the code using the GCash app to pay for orders.
New FoodPH merchants can get their own GCash QR code upon signing up, while existing ones can do the same via a link that’s provided to them via the bot.
Maridol Ylanan, head of marketing and strategy at Globe myBusiness, said her company has always been committed to providing entrepreneurs with digital solutions and know-how to help them succeed in their ventures.
“We believe in partnering with Viber, which became the messaging app of choice for online shopping during the pandemic. That’s why we have encouraged our subscribers to enlist in Viber’s FoodPH, as it will help them maximize their reach and improve their customer service,” she said.
“GCash used to generate QR codes only for bigger businesses to help them streamline their point-of-sale transactions. Along with Viber, we have realized that MSMEs, especially food businesses that have been hardly hit by the pandemic, will also greatly benefit from this feature,” said Fredy Levy, chief commercial officer of GCash.
Launched in December 2020, FoodPH is Viber’s official food directory where users can search for a specific type of food, a certain cuisine, or look for a dish based on location. Merchants that are part of the community are carefully sourced by Viber, with some of them listed through Globe MyBusiness.
Viber’s latest partnership with GCash comes after the messaging app announced last year that it was planning to turn the messaging app into an all-in-one app, moving towards fintech by making in-app payments available to everyone.