With news that Smart Communications, Inc and the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) partnering for mobile banking services, somebody asked why there is no such partnership between BPI and Globe Telecommunications. You see both Globe and BPI belong to the Ayala Group of Companies so it makes more sense for BPI to tie up with Globe. That baffled a lot of people, but it didn’t baffle me.

You see, back when I still had a Globe Pre-paid account, I had GCash account which was tied up with my BPI ATM Savings account. And I was able to do mobile banking by linking the GCash account to the ATM Savings Account. This allowed me to transfer money between the two accounts, and even load to my Globe pre-paid account without physically buying a load from an outlet.

If you’re wondering how you can also do that, follow the simple instructions at this BPI Express Mobile Site. With this service, you get the following benefits (lifted from the page linked above):

Experience unparalleled banking services on your cellphone. With just a few clicks, you can:

• Get real time balances of your Express Teller, Express Credit and Express Cash accounts
• Transfer funds to another Express Teller peso account instantly
• Reload any Globe or TM prepaid cellphone conveniently
• Pay bills to over 170 partner merchants, utilities and establishments easily
• Load any Express Cash or Express Money Order card immediately
• Move funds to and from your GCash wallet quickly

Just navigate through the site to know more on how you can set up your mobile account, how you can register your BPI account, how you can link the two, and avail of the other BPI Express Mobile Services through your Globe account.