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 belo ...

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. M ...

of "The Card for All." By late January 2015, MegaLink and

BancNet BancNet (also spelled 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 t ...

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 conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo G ...

, of which it is now a subsidiary of the latter.

History

MegaLink was formed in September 1989 by

Equitable Banking Corporation 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 ...

(now merged with Banco de Oro), Far East Bank and Trust Company (now part of BPI), Philippine National Bank (currently a

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

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 ATMs ...

. 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 B ...

, 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 POS, Pos or PoS may refer to: Linguistics * Part of speech, the role that a word or phrase plays in a sentence * Poverty of the stimulus, a linguistic term used in language acquisition and development * Sayula Popoluca (ISO 639-3), an indigenous ...

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 (Phonelink) as the world's first consortium-based phone banking facility. *1995 With its belief of universal sharing, MegaLink forged an alliance with

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 ...

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 typ ...

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

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 Service via Smart Communications, MegaLink Internet Payment Service via Union Bank of the Philippines'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 se ...

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 choruse ...

, RINTIS), Malaysia ( MEPS), 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.

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

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 (merged with Chinabank)

References

External links