MegaLink

Last updated

MegaLink
MegaLink Logo.png
Product type Online bank
CountryPhilippines
Introduced1989
Discontinued2015
Markets8 members with 3,413 ATMs across the Philippines
Website http://www.megalink.com.ph/

MegaLink (also spelled Megalink) is a Philippine-based developer of mobile and banking software as well as a service provider for banks, specifically for automatic teller machine networks and point of sale systems of banks in the country. From its establishment in 1989 until 2015, it pioneered the interconnectivity of several banks in the country by way of being the first interbank network with different banks as its members.

Contents

At the planned re-purposing and decommissioning, it had a total of more than 2,921 automated teller machines nationwide and handled more than 795,000 transactions a day. MegaLink was the largest interbank network in the Philippines with 13.1 million cardholders.[ citation needed ]

MegaLink was also known for its belief in universal sharing with the motto of "The Card for All."[ citation needed ]

By late January 2015, MegaLink and BancNet announced their merger. [1] BancNet would be the sole surviving entity, while MegaLink would be re-purposed. [2] MegaLink now lists itself as a BancNet member, under the independent ATM deployer category. [3]

Following the repurposing, MegaLink and its assets were sold to Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, of which it is now a subsidiary of the latter.

History

Interface of a BDO Unibank ATM in Bacoor, Philippines. BDO Unibank, an original MegaLink member bank, retains the use of MegaLink nomenclature and design in its software despite its mandated transfer to BancNet. BDO ATM using MegaLink interface 2021.png
Interface of a BDO Unibank ATM in Bacoor, Philippines. BDO Unibank, an original MegaLink member bank, retains the use of MegaLink nomenclature and design in its software despite its mandated transfer to BancNet.

MegaLink was formed in September 1989 by Equitable Banking Corporation (now merged with Banco de Oro), Far East Bank and Trust Company (now part of BPI), Philippine National Bank (currently a BancNet member since Allied Bank merger was completed in 2013 as its surviving brand) and United Coconut Planters Bank, with its fundamental belief in universal sharing, it became the first operational shared ATM network in the Philippines. MegaLink was launched on March 19, 1990, with shared resources of 88 ATMs, a base of 130,000 cardholders, and an average of 200 transactions a day.[ citation needed ] MegaLink is the first Philippine consortium to link with both BancNet and Expressnet.

MegaLink Milestones:

Final members

Interface of a MegaLink-deployed BancNet ATM at a SevenBank ATM in Paranaque, Philippines. MegaLink used to be a competitor of BancNet until 2015. Notice also that this MegaLink-deployed ATM is now using on-screen software standardized by BancNet. Megalink-deployed ATM 080321.jpg
Interface of a MegaLink-deployed BancNet ATM at a SevenBank ATM in Parañaque, Philippines. MegaLink used to be a competitor of BancNet until 2015. Notice also that this MegaLink-deployed ATM is now using on-screen software standardized by BancNet.

Transferred to BancNet

Defunct banks

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debit card</span> Card used for financial transactions, usually without a credit line

A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either the front or the back. Many of the new cards now have a chip on them, which allows people to use their card by touch (contactless), or by inserting the card and keying in a PIN as with swiping the magnetic stripe. These are similar to a credit card, but unlike a credit card, the money for the purchase must be in the cardholder's bank account at the time of the purchase and is immediately transferred directly from that account to the merchant's account to pay for the purchase.

Expressnet is an interbank network connecting the ATM networks of seven major banks in the Philippines. It has the second-largest number of ATMs and the smallest number of customers and member banks. However, its strength among the interbank networks and the ubiquity of BPI ATMs have given birth to the Expressnet motto: "The Powerful Connection".

BancNet is a Philippine-based interbank network connecting the ATM networks of local and offshore banks, and the country's single interbank network in the Philippines in terms of the number of member banks and annual transactions. Due to its status as the country's single ATM switch operator, it is designated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as the country's national ATM network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banco de Oro</span> Bank in the Philippines

BDO Unibank, Inc., commonly known as Banco de Oro (BDO), is a Philippine banking company based in Mandaluyong. In terms of total assets, the firm is the largest bank in the Philippines and 15th largest in Southeast Asia as of March 31, 2016. BDO Unibank is also a member of SM Group. It is also the largest bank in the country by market capitalization.

Equitable PCI Bank, Inc. was one of the largest banks in the Philippines, being the third-largest bank in terms of assets. It was the largest bank before it was overtaken by Metrobank in 1995. It is the result of the merger of Equitable Banking Corporation and Philippine Commercial International Bank or PCIBank. It was known for a wide range of services from savings to insurance and, through its wholly owned subsidiary Equitable Card Network, was the largest Philippine credit card issuer. The bank merged with Banco de Oro Universal Bank in early 2007, and is now branded as BDO as its new identity as part of the new Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Express Payment System</span>

The Express Payment System, more commonly known as the EPS, was the EFTPOS system originally of the ATM cards of Bank of the Philippine Islands and its subsidiaries, BPI Family Savings Bank and BPI Direct Savings Bank. Today, it is the EFTPOS system of the Expressnet interbank network in the Philippines. The system is the most popular EFTPOS system for ATM cardholders in the Philippines and is accepted nationwide. Rivals of the network include MegaLink's PayLink and the similarly named BancNet Payment System (BPS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Payment card</span> Card issued by a financial institution that can be used to make a payment

Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and make payments by electronic transfer with a payment terminal and access automated teller machines (ATMs). Such cards are known by a variety of names including bank cards, ATM cards, client cards, key cards or cash cards.

An interbank network, also known as an ATM consortium or ATM network, is a computer network that enables ATM cards issued by a financial institution that is a member of the network to be used to perform ATM transactions through ATMs that belong to another member of the network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Coconut Planters Bank</span> Bank in the Philippines

The United Coconut Planters Bank, more popularly known by its initials, UCPB, or by its old name, Cocobank, was a government-controlled and was one of the largest banks in the Philippines, ranking within the top twenty banks in the country in terms of assets. It is the only existing universal bank not listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange. The bank, owing to its name, catered heavily to coconut farmers, but also served a wide-ranging clientele.

Nationlink is an interbank network and EFTPOS network in the Philippines. Unlike the main Philippine interbank networks, BancNet, ENS, Expressnet and MegaLink, Nationlink does not attempt to compete. Instead, it seeks to complement those networks by extending the reach of ATMs in the countryside, as the main networks are concentrated in urban areas. Its closest competitor is the Encash Network Service. A USAID funded Ateneo de Manila University research suggests that the network is beneficial for handling remittances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaysian Electronic Payment System</span>

The Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS) is an interbank network service provider in Malaysia. In August 2017, MEPS merged with Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corporation Sdn Bhd (MyClear) to form Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ATM Bersama</span> Indonesian interbank network

ATM Bersama is one of the interbank networks in Indonesia, connecting the ATM networks of twenty-one banks in Indonesia. It was established 1993 and is based on the model adopted by MegaLink, an interbank network in the Philippines.

Encash Network Services, or ENS, is an independent switch network in the Philippines. It initially connected the ATMs of four rural banks. In its 30 months of operation as of May 2010, this network eventually expanded to more than 101 ATMs, targeting all rural banks and cooperatives. ENS is a member of MegaLink, which is interconnected with the other Philippine interbank networks, i.e. BancNet and Expressnet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulse (interbank network)</span> Interbank electronic funds transfer network in the United States

Pulse is an interbank electronic funds transfer (EFT) network in the United States. It serves more than 4,400 U.S. financial institutions and includes more than 380,000 ATMs, as well as POS terminals nationwide. Rivals of the network include First Data's STAR and Fidelity National Information Services's NYCE. It is owned by Discover Financial, issuer of the Discover Card, and is included in Discover's agreement with China UnionPay; cards can be used on each other's network leading to better acceptance outside large cities than the larger networks.

Cashnet is an interbank network in India managed by Euronet Services India Pvt. Ltd. which is a subsidiary of Euronet Worldwide.

The BancNet (BN) Point-Of-Sale System is a local PIN-based electronic funds transfer (EFTPOS) payments solution operated by BancNet on behalf of the member banks and China UnionPay (CUP). The BN point of sale (POS) System allows merchants to accept the automated teller machine (ATM) cards of any active BancNet member bank as payment for goods or services and obliges BN to settle the transaction as early as the following banking day through a direct deposit to a settlement account with any member bank. Acceptance of CUP cards is limited to SM Prime Holdings, Inc.'s Department Store, Supermarket, Hypermarket, Super Sale, Watson's, Sports Central, SM Appliance, Toy Kingdom, and select Surplus Stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citibank (Malaysia)</span> Bank in Malaysia

Citibank Berhad is a licensed commercial bank operating in Malaysia with its headquarters in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. Citibank Berhad operates as a subsidiary of Citigroup Holding (Singapore) Private Limited, commencing its banking operations in Malaysia since 1959. Citibank Berhad was locally incorporated in 1994. Citibank Berhad has 11 branches spread across Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang, Kuantan, Malacca and Johor, offering a wide range of banking and financial services including retail banking, institutional banking, and investment products and services.

Vocalink is a payment systems company headquartered in the United Kingdom, created in 2007 from the merger between Voca and LINK. It designs, builds and operates the UK payments infrastructure, which underpins the provision of the Bacs payment system and the UK ATM LINK switching platform covering 65,000 ATMs and the UK Faster Payments systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gh-link</span>

gh-link is GhIPSS’ interbank switching and processing system which interconnects financial institutions and systems of third party payment service providers. gh-link is a local electronic payment ecosystem based on the domestic ATM card with channels such as ATM, POS and Web.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ATM Industry Association</span> Trade association promoting automated teller machines

The ATM Industry Association (ATMIA), originally the ATM Owners Association, was established in 1997 in the United States as a global nonprofit trade association to service an industry that built around the global growth of the ATM.

References

  1. Torres, Ted P. "BancNet, MegaLink merger marks 'new beginning' in e-payments". philstar.com.
  2. "BusinessWorld | Philippines to have unified ATM network by next year". Bworldonline.com. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  3. "Bancnet: Our Members". www.bancnetonline.com.
Philippine interbank networks
BancNet | ENS | Nationlink
Defunct: Expressnet | MegaLink |