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
An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fund ...
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
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 belon ...
with different banks as its members.
At 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.
MegaLink was also known for its belief in universal sharing with the
motto
A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...
of "The Card for All."
By late January 2015, MegaLink and
BancNet
BancNet (also spelled Bancnet) is a Philippine-based interbank network connecting the Automated teller machine, ATM networks of local and offshore banks, and the country's single interbank network in the Philippines in terms of the number of m ...
announced their merger. BancNet would be the sole surviving entity, while MegaLink would be re-purposed. MegaLink now lists itself as a BancNet member, under the independent ATM deployer category.
Following the repurposing, MegaLink and its assets were sold to Japanese conglomerate
Hitachi
() is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...
, of which it is now a subsidiary of the latter.
History
![BDO ATM using MegaLink interface 2021](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/BDO_ATM_using_MegaLink_interface_2021.png)
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
The Philippine National Bank (PNB, Filipino/ tl, Bangko Nasyonal ng Pilipinas, lit=; es, Banco Nacional Filipino; Hokkien ) is one of the largest banks in the Philippines. It was established by the Philippine government on July 22, 1916, durin ...
(currently a
BancNet
BancNet (also spelled Bancnet) is a Philippine-based interbank network connecting the Automated teller machine, ATM networks of local and offshore banks, and the country's single interbank network in the Philippines in terms of the number of m ...
member since
Allied Bank merger was completed in 2013 as its surviving brand) and
United Coconut Planters Bank
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 ...
, 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. MegaLink is the first Philippine consortium to link with both
BancNet
BancNet (also spelled Bancnet) is a Philippine-based interbank network connecting the Automated teller machine, ATM networks of local and offshore banks, and the country's single interbank network in the Philippines in terms of the number of m ...
and
Expressnet
Expressnet is an interbank network connecting the ATM networks of seven major banks in the Philippines. It has the second-largest number of ATMs (largely due to the vast nationwide presence of Bank of the Philippine Islands Express Teller AT ...
.
MegaLink Milestones:
*1990 MegaLink became the first shared operational ATM network in the Philippines.
*1992 The founding banks of
ATM Bersama
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.
ATM ...
, an Indonesian interbank network, turn to MegaLink's expertise as their model for a shared services network which eventually led to a partnership.
*1993 MegaLink launched the Debit
Bills Payment over the
ATM, as well as purchases via
POS terminals. MegaLink also received the prestigious Asian Institute of Management Award for Information Technology Management and becomes the only ATM network to gain the distinction.
*1994 MegaLink introduced
telephone banking
Telephone banking is a service provided by a bank or other financial institution, that enables customers to perform over the telephone a range of financial transactions which do not involve cash or Financial instruments (such as cheques), without ...
(Phonelink) as the world's first consortium-based phone banking facility.
*1995 With its belief of universal sharing, MegaLink forged an alliance with
BancNet
BancNet (also spelled Bancnet) is a Philippine-based interbank network connecting the Automated teller machine, ATM networks of local and offshore banks, and the country's single interbank network in the Philippines in terms of the number of m ...
for ATM transactions, and links up with
Visa
Visa most commonly refers to:
*Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Visa Plus, an interbank network
*Travel visa, a document that allows ...
's
Plus
Plus may refer to:
Mathematics
* Addition
* +, the mathematical sign
Music
* ''+'' (Ed Sheeran album), (pronounced "plus"), 2011
* ''Plus'' (Cannonball Adderley Quintet album), 1961
* ''Plus'' (Matt Nathanson EP), 2003
* ''Plus'' (Martin Ga ...
and
Mastercard's
Cirrus
Cirrus may refer to:
Science
*Cirrus (biology), any of various thin, thread-like structures on the body of an animal
*Cirrus (botany), a tendril
*Infrared cirrus, in astronomy, filamentary structures seen in infrared light
*Cirrus cloud, a type ...
networks through Equitable Bank for international transactions.
* 1996 MegaLink hosted the 1st Philippine Electronic Banking Conference and Exhibition attended by over 300 participants from the industry.
* 1997 MegaLink interconnected with
Expressnet
Expressnet is an interbank network connecting the ATM networks of seven major banks in the Philippines. It has the second-largest number of ATMs (largely due to the vast nationwide presence of Bank of the Philippine Islands Express Teller AT ...
for ATM transactions.
* 1998 MegaLink activated the Automated Reconciliation and Settlement System as well as MIS with Transaction Query system to its members.
* 2000 MegaLink successfully migrated through
Y2K
The year 2000 problem, also known as the Y2K problem, Y2K scare, millennium bug, Y2K bug, Y2K glitch, Y2K error, or simply Y2K refers to potential computer errors related to the formatting and storage of calendar data for dates in and after ...
.
* 2002 MegaLink launched the Exposure Limit Management System (MELMS) to manage inter-bank settlement risks.
* 2003 MegaLink launched Electronic Settlement with
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on July 3, 1993, pursuant to the provision of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act ...
and becomes the first non-bank to participate in
BSP's PhilPass. MegaLink also established its Disaster Recovery Site.
* 2004
Mobile Banking
Mobile banking is a service provided by a bank or other financial institution that allows its customers to conduct financial transactions remotely using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. Unlike the related internet banking it uses ...
Service via
Smart Communications
Smart Communications Inc., commonly referred to as Smart (and officially stylized/ self-styled as SMART), is a wholly owned wireless communications and digital services subsidiary of PLDT Inc., a telecommunications and digital services provid ...
, MegaLink
Internet Payment Service via
Union Bank of the Philippines
The Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc., more commonly known as UnionBank, is one of the universal banks in the Philippines and the ninth largest bank in the country by assets.
UnionBank is a joint consortium among the Aboitiz Group, Insular ...
's the PORT as well as Interbank Funds Transfer (IBFT)service were launched.
* 2005 MegaLink is the first to implement full ATM switch
outsourcing
Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...
in the country with iBank as its pilot bank. Debit
Bills Payment via
Smart
Smart or SMART may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014
* Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com
* ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper
* ''SMart'', a children's television ser ...
mobile phones becomes available.
* 2006
ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) signs up MegaLink as founding member in the Philippines counting the Philippines as its 50th member country.
* 2007 MegaLink opens its membership to non-banks and accepts ENCASH Network Services
ENS (The Philippines' first independent ATM deployer) and MASS-SPECC Cooperative Development Center (The Philippines' oldest cooperative federation. MegaLink partners with MediLink, the first and only electronic claims network serving the Philippine healthcare industry, to allow MegaLink cardholders to pay for medical services in accredited hospitals and clinics.
* 2008 MegaLink was admitted to the Asian Payment Network (APN), which counts ATM networks in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia as members. This membership paves the way for interconnection of ATM networks between member countries.
* 2009 MegaLink hosted the 5th Asian Payment Network (APN) Forum attended by APN members from Indonesia (ARTAJASA,
ALTO
The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...
,
RINTIS), Malaysia (
MEPS
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
), Thailand (ITMX) and Singapore (
NETS). ATM networks from Korea (KFTC) and the Philippines (BancNet and Expressnet), non-members of APN, were invited to attend as observers. MegaLink also launched batch-to-online IBFT service.
* 2010 MegaLink launched Load Fulfillment, Internet banking and Cross Border acquiring service (Mastercard and JCB). MegaLink interconnected with BancNet and Expressnet for POS transactions.
* 2011 MegaLink interconnected with Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute (KFTC) in South Korea for Cross Border ATM and POS transactions.
* 2012 MegaLink launched its own Internet Payment Gateway service and implemented a Telco agnostic Mobile banking service. MegaLink was elected as the APN chairman.
* 2013 MegaLink interconnected with National ITMX in Thailand for Cross Border ATM and POS transactions and MegaLink re-launched the Visa International Acquiring service. MegaLink was re-elected as APN chairman.
* 2015 MegaLink, through its member bank BDO Unibank and alliance partner BPI, was the first to introduce touchscreen ATM terminals via machines from
Diebold
Diebold Nixdorf is an American multinational financial and retail technology company that specializes in the sale, manufacture, installation and service of self-service transaction systems (such as ATMs and currency processing systems), point- ...
.
Final members
Transferred to BancNet
*Banco de Oro
*BDO Network Bank (formerly One Network Bank)
*Coop-NATCCO
*Country Builders Bank
*ENCASH
*
GCash Inc. (formerly Mynt/ G-Cash Xchange, Inc.)
*MASS-SPECC Cooperative Development Center
*Pacific Ace Savings Bank
*
Union Bank of the Philippines
The Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc., more commonly known as UnionBank, is one of the universal banks in the Philippines and the ninth largest bank in the country by assets.
UnionBank is a joint consortium among the Aboitiz Group, Insular ...
Defunct banks
*
Equitable PCI Bank
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 Bankin ...
(merged with
Banco de Oro)
*
Planters Development Bank
Planters Development Bank, more commonly known as Plantersbank, was a major private development bank in the Philippines which mainly catered to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). At its peak, it was the largest private development bank in the ...
(merged with
Chinabank
China Banking Corporation (; ), commonly known as China Bank, is a Filipino bank established in 1920. It was the first privately owned local commercial bank in the Philippines initially catering to the banking needs of Chinese Filipino businesspe ...
)
See also
*
BancNet
BancNet (also spelled Bancnet) is a Philippine-based interbank network connecting the Automated teller machine, ATM networks of local and offshore banks, and the country's single interbank network in the Philippines in terms of the number of m ...
(the surviving ATM network in the Philippines)
*
Expressnet
Expressnet is an interbank network connecting the ATM networks of seven major banks in the Philippines. It has the second-largest number of ATMs (largely due to the vast nationwide presence of Bank of the Philippine Islands Express Teller AT ...
(MegaLink's alliance member, also absorbed by BancNet)
*
ATM usage fees
*
ENS
*
Nationlink
* Membership of
ATM Industry Association (ATMIA)
References
External links
MegaLink Public Website
{{Philippine interbank networks
Hitachi
Interbank networks
Financial services companies of the Philippines
Companies based in Pasay