New digital payment solution targets millennials, unbanked

Consumers with no bank account nor credit card will be able to shop, pay bills or send money via a smartphone with the use of a digital payment solution developed by Smart eMoney, Inc. and Rocket Internet.

PayMaya, which comes with a mobile app and a physical Visa card, was launched in Cebu yesterday to bring the millennials and the unbanked sector into the digital economy.

Millennials, also Generation Y, refer to those born in the early 1980s to early 2000s while the unbanked are those who don’t have bank accounts.

Raymund S. Villanueva, head for PayMaya marketing, said 7 out of 10 Filipinos are still unbanked and have “no way of participating in the digital economy” while another 10 percent are underserved by financial institutions. Only about 3 million Filipinos have credit cards.

“It’s a full-featured financial product. It’s open to any mobile number. This makes it so much easier to start transacting online,” Villanueva said in a press briefing yesterday.

Consumers may download the free mobile app on their smartphones from Google Play Store and App Store. They may also upgrade their accounts to get a prepaid, reloadable Visa credit card that can also be used for automated teller machine (ATM) withdrawals.

Account holders are now able to shop and send money online. Villanueva said they will soon roll out an upgrade that will allow online bills payment.

PayMaya business solutions will also be launched in about a month, although a couple of big businesses have already signed up.

Nick Wilwayco, Smart eMoney head for public relations, said the Philippine Airlines mobile site and check out is powered by PayMaya while Gaisano Capital will use PayMaya’s mobile point-of-sale and online check out system.

Villanueva said the system is currently available only in the Philippines. But by the later part of the first quarter of next year, Villanueva said PayMaya account holders in Hong Kong and the US will be able to send money to the Philippines.

Account holders will also be able to link the solution to their bank accounts by the first quarter of next year, Wilwayco added.

Villanueva said a vibrant business process outsourcing (BPO) sector has primed Cebu for digital payments adoption.

“Cebu has a growing population that has access to the Internet and they are very aware of eCommerce and social media trends. This emerging market also has the disposable income, making them the perfect customers for eCommerce,” he said in a statement.

Smart Money, a mobile payment scheme pioneered by Smart Communications, Inc. about 14 years ago, will continue to be available because a lot of Filipinos still don’t have smartphones.

As the use of smartphones increases, Wilwayco said they also expect a transition to the digital financial option offered by PayMaya.

Reloading of PayMaya is currently available in 7-Eleven and Mini Stop convenience stores as well as in Robinsons Business Centers and Smart Padala Centers.