Friendster Users Can Now Send Money Via GCASH
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
Millions of Friendster Users Can Now Send and Receive Money from Family and
Friends - An Industry First
Friendster, Inc., a top 20 global website based on traffic* and the #1 social network in Asia, today
announced that it has launched support for users located in the Philippines and abroad to send and receive
money on Friendster via the GCASH payment solution. This launch makes Globe Telecom the first partner to
enable money transfer on Friendster, through its wholly-owned subsidiary G-Xchange, Inc. (GXI), and their
flagship GCASH mobile commerce platform.
Friendster is the first major social network to enable money transfer via partner platforms. Today, more
than 13 million active members in the Philippines and over 95 million registered users around the world can
utilize this new feature to conveniently, quickly, affordably, and securely send and receive money from
family, friends, and business associates anytime and anywhere.
From the Friendster web site, to initiate the process of sending money to another user, a user simply
associates their Friendster account with their GCASH mobile phone number. Users can send money to any
other Friendster user who is also a GCASH subscriber, where the transaction is securely completed using
SMS text messages from the authorized mobile phone and the mobile PIN provided by the owner.
Friendster users with a Globe mobile number can begin sending money by registering their mobile number
GCASH, users must also enable their mobile number by registering for the GCASH service on their phones.
Once a mobile number is registered and enabled, users can send money to anyone in their friends list by
simply viewing the profile of the intended recipient and clicking the "Send GCASH" button. Users then enter
the amount of money to transfer which initiates a confirmation SMS text message to appear on the sender's
mobile phone. The sender confirms the money transfer using their mobile PIN. This confirmation process
ensures that only the owner of the GCASH account can authorize the funds transfer. After the text message
confirmation is received from the sender, money is transferred to the recipient's mobile phone GCASH
account, completing the transaction. Transaction fees are P2.50 per transaction for Globe subscribers.
"By enabling online money transfer, we've made it significantly easier for users in the Philippines and their
family and friends all over the world to securely send money easily, affordably and quickly," said David
Jones, vice president of global marketing at Friendster. "With over 90 percent of internet users in the
Philippines on Friendster and many Filipinos around the world, including overseas foreign workers, also on
Friendster, millions can now transfer money with ease directly from their preferred social network," he said.
"We are excited to be the first mobile partner in the Philippines to launch and enable money transfers
through GCASH on Friendster user accounts," said GXI President Rizza Maniego-Eala. "This strengthens
our goal of building seamless connections between mobile and online money transfers and payments.
Having Friendster as a partner reinforces our vision of providing Filipinos with more innovative, relevant and
easy to use mobile financial services," she added.
Friendster Leads in the Philippines
In the Philippines, Friendster is the #1 social network, the #2 website and the #1 mobile site.** Friendster
is an order of magnitude larger than competitors in the Philippines. Friendster had over 13 million monthly
unique visitors from the Philippines in December 2008,*** which is 93 percent, or virtually all of the 14 million
Internet users in the country. A typical user spends 30 minutes a day on Friendster and visits Friendster
several times a week, communicating with friends and sharing and consuming content through a suite of
features, which also creates a great platform for local advertisers.
Friendster Leads in Asia and is a Top 20 Global Website
Friendster is the #1 social network in Asia, with over 75 million registered users. Plus, Asia is the largest
market of Internet users (Asia has 41 percent of the world's Internet users, more than double the 19 percent
from the U.S.), and Asia is the fastest growing region in the world.* Friendster has a loyal and growing user
base throughout Asia in the following top 10 countries: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea.
Friendster is a top 20 global website in the world in terms of traffic, serving over 16 billion page views a
month.* Friendster is also a leader in "user engagement" among the top five global social networks, with
About Friendster
With more than 95 million members worldwide, Friendster is a leading global online social network.
Friendster is focused on helping people stay in touch with friends and discover new people and things that
are important to them. Online adults, 18 and up, choose Friendster to connect with friends, family, school,
social groups, activities and interests. Friendster prides itself in delivering an easy-to-use, friendly and
interactive environment where users can easily connect with anyone around the world via
www.friendster.com or m.friendster.com from any Internet-ready mobile device. Friendster has a growing
portfolio of patents granted to the company on social networking, with more expected over the next several
months. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Friendster is backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield &
Byers, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, IDG Ventures and individual investors. For more information,
*comScore Media Metrix, Worldwide Data, December 2008
**Opera State of the Mobile Web Report, December 2008
***Google Analytics and Friendster Internal Data, December 2008
SOURCE: Friendster, Inc.
CONTACT: Lerin O'Neill of The Hoffman Agency
+1-408-975-3037, or mobile, +1-408-832-7083
press@friendster.com
for Friendster
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