IN THIS DAY AND AGE, when technology has virtually shrunk our world, one can say that nothing is impossible as long as you have a mobile phone within your reach.

When cellular phones got into the hands of the masses in the late 1980s, nobody thought the devices could spawn such a thing as a ?mobile lifestyle.?

Before, people use their mobile phones only to call and send text amessages. Now, the handy gadget has the capacity to send quick e-mails, surf the Internet and access Facebook pages.

And when you thought that it couldn?t get any better than this, it did.

With iCan, you can shop, order and pay for goods and services using your mobile phone.

First of its kind

The newest mobile commerce system, the first of its kind here in the Philippines, has allowed consumers to link up with their banks, credit card merchants, favorite shops, restaurants, cinemas and airlines through their mobile phones.

With iCan, ?retail therapy? has become better than ever.

The system is part of the TAO group of companies, whose business is founded on commodities and physical distribution.

A brainchild of Logica and Fronde?two of the top IT mobile solution service providers?iCan enables consumers to enjoy cashless freedom.

It also offers mobile ordering, mobile payment and content distribution from various businesses to consumers.

With Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Ayala Malls, Ayala Cinemas, Nokia, Memo Express, Philips and Rustan?s as partners, iCan aspires to make every consumer?s shopping experience as convenient and stress-free as possible.

?Almost everybody owns a mobile phone nowadays. Everyone knows how to use one. And so we want our consumers to do more with their mobile phones. That?s when iCan was conceived,? says Concepcion Octaviano, chief operating officer of I.Can Worldwide.

?62.5 percent of BPI?s clients are now using outside banking transactions, which includes Internet and mobile phones. We want to tap into that market and give them new possibilities on shopping and banking experiences,? she adds.

Increased purchasing power

With the simple, easy-to-read, menu-based system that is loaded onto a mobile phone, iCan demonstrates how technological advances can increase the consumer?s purchasing power.

But how does iCan actually work?

First, you have to open a deposit account at any BPI branch. Upon opening, BPI will download an application called ?BPI Mobile Mall? onto your phone. You will then be asked to use a pin number to secure your transactions.

Full capacity of mobile banking

Now, if you want to purchase tickets for the latest blockbuster without queuing up for hours, simply click on the ?Sureseats? tab on the iCan application. From there, you may choose the movie you want to see, find out its schedule and the Ayala cinema of your choice. The system will then automatically deduct the payment from your BPI account and inform Sureseats to reserve a seat for you.

Sureseats will then generate a confirmation message to your mobile phone, which you will show upon arrival at the cinema.

?We want to improve the life of our customers, so we plan to harness the full capacity of mobile banking in order to make things quicker, easier and more convenient for our consumers. This is how we use technology to empower consumers to make better choices,? Octaviano says.

?In addition, iCan also connects overseas Filipino workers with their families here by enabling them to shop abroad and have the items shipped and delivered to their loved ones back home by sending the confirmation message to their families.?

This technology is protected by an advanced encryption that secures all transaction details, keeping everything confidential. In addition, the consumer can check his or her record of purchases with BPI.

?When they check their deposit account, they will see the full details of their transactions with iCan. All they have to do is visit the nearest BPI branch and they can see their purchases in real time,? Octaviano says.

When asked if this system were in any danger from so-called ?network breakdowns,? Octaviano replied that ?there is very little chance that such events will occur.?

?Interesting?

She adds that this technology has undergone several stages of testing before it was launched into the market.

Aurelio ?Gigi? Montinola III, president of BPI, has described the product to be ?an interesting one.?

And he is certain that this will give consumers ?the real power of mobile shopping.?

For the team behind iCan, the system will translate to an expansion of markets here and abroad.

That team has, in effect, provided consumers total access to an advanced technology that offers precision and speed in terms of shopping, bills payment and delivery of goods.

?Since everyone can use a mobile phone, we can now offer consumers the real power of shopping anytime, anywhere,? said Octaviano.