Celebrating 10 years of eTap!

A rider remitting money from cash-on-delivery parcels back to their employer. A sari-sari store owner settling their electricity bills. A hardworking housewife paying for their online shopping expenses that will go towards the home. 

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All of these vignettes represent the customers eTap kiosks typically serve, fulfilling the company’s original goal of bridging digital convenience with people’s real-world needs. 

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Since eTap was founded in 2015, the company has served as a proud phygital bridge for cash-first Filipinos using eTap machines to top-up e-wallets, pay their bills, or avail of government services. The company’s kiosks, which include white labeled machines and those under the eTap Solutions brand, can be found in hundreds of store partners all over the Philippines, such as DALI, TGP, Alfamart, and more. 

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But it wasn’t always this way. So how did it start?
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Humble beginnings
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The eTap journey started with co-founders Percy Hernandez and Marlon Portugal realizing that millions of unbanked Filipinos still needed to avail of digital services. It was this thinking that inspired them to focus their initial efforts outside of Metro Manila, eschewing the national capital for up-and-coming Davao City. 

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eTap started bootstrapping early, with the founders pivoting from creating banking apps to selling self-service payment kiosks to other payment aggregators. Eventually, the company realized that developing its own proprietary software in-house while distributing its own hardware was the way to go. 

It was also important to get the right store partners early on. Davao Central Convenience Store, for example, counted as some of the earliest store partners to work with eTap. The partnership made sense: it was a one-stop-shop for everyone’s needs that had its ear on the ground in the King City of the South.
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Time for growth
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Despite the challenges that came with the pandemic, eTap’s growth continued in the early 2020s. From the beginning of 2022 to October 2023, eTap Inc. saw an increase in orders, with machine sales rising from 1,215 to 1,809, and 1,600 of them already delivered.

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Yet the company’s growth is also apparent in its new partnerships. Recently, the company signed an agreement with Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) to bridge digital convenience with physical access for users. Through the partnership, RCBC DiskarTech users can now deposit cash at eTap’s thousands of self-service machines located nationwide. 

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Today, both eTap Inc. and eTap Solutions have strategic partnerships with over 200 store partners such as grocery stores, pharmacies and bakeshops. eTap Solutions alone now operates 4,000+ kiosks in 350+ cities and municipalities throughout the country.
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Over the past decade, we've seen how small, everyday transactions can create big waves of change. We've seen how technology can make lives easier through saved time, money, and better customer experiences.
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As eTap steps into its second decade, the company is more energized than ever to expand its reach, deepen impact, and continue innovating for the communities it serves.
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Here’s to ten years of trust, ten years of service, and ten years of doing good through every tap!

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Article by Pancho Dizon
Graphic by Joshua Puig

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