Public sector goes cashless using PayMaya platform

MANILA, Philippines — The pandemic has accelerated the government’s digital transformation, with PayMaya leading the way in enabling national agencies and local government units (LGUs) to accept all kinds of cashless payments and disburse financial aid anytime, anywhere.

Over 60 government agencies and units at both national and local levels – including the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Social Security System (SSS), Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Land Transportation Office (LTO), Bureau of Customs (BoC), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) – have chosen PayMaya’s platform to provide citizens and businesses with a safer and better way to pay for taxes and fees.

As the public sector goes cashless, total volume in terms of value for government transactions processed by PayMaya was estimated to have increased by 1,200 percent in December 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

With PayMaya enabling cashless acceptance for the government, Filipinos can enjoy a more inclusive way to pay via any credit, debit, prepaid card, or PayMaya QR – whether through physical locations or online. Aside from convenience, those who choose to pay via PayMaya’s platforms also get to enjoy more rewards such as cashback each time they pay for government transactions.

The government also has tapped PayMaya to deliver financial aid to millions of affected Filipinos who lack a bank account. To date, the digital financial services leader was able to distribute over P4.5 billion in assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), SSS, DTI, Department of Agriculture (DA), and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), among other agencies, directly to the PayMaya accounts of beneficiaries.

Amid the constrained mobility, public services have become accessible even in far-flung communities, with PayMaya/Smart Padala’s largest on-ground network of more than 33,000 partner agent network touchpoints nationwide serving as last-mile digital financial hubs. With Smart Padala present in 92 percent of all cities and municipalities, unbanked and underserved Filipinos can pay for government fees and cash out their financial assistance within their own neighborhoods.

“The government has not only made public services more conveniently and safely available in this challenging time but it has also undeniably supercharged the engine for financial inclusion. At PayMaya, we are happy and proud to be one of the main partners of the government for this transformation,” said Orlando Vea, CEO and founder at PayMaya.

With the pandemic affecting everyday life, the government has turned to digital payments to process revenue collections and distribute much-needed assistance safely and conveniently. This has been supported by landmark policies that have made cashless payments a necessary feature under the New Normal.

PayMaya has deployed its plug and play solutions such as PayMaya Checkout, One by PayMaya, and PayMaya QR to the government’s tax agencies such as the BIR and BoC; biggest state enterprises including the SSS and Pag-IBIG; and other revenue-generating agencies such as the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), DTI, DFA, and Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), among other agencies.

PayMaya has become the government’s disbursement channel for Social Amelioration Program, Small Business Wage Subsidy, and LTFRB’s assistance to affected drivers, among other programs.

Result of the latest e-Conomy SEA 2020 report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Co. showed that the average number of cash transactions by consumers declined from 48 percent pre-COVID-19 to 37 percent post-COVID-19.

“Our country’s digital transformation is propelled by our government’s decisive cashless pivot amid the pandemic. Today, it is not a question of going cashless as consumers and businesses are already choosing digital as their default payment. As the country’s only end-to-end digital payments platform ecosystem enabler, PayMaya serves all – consumers, enterprises, and the government – in the most inclusive way possible,” said Vea.

Vea noted that the passage of important legislation such as the Use of Digital Payments Act and Better Normal in the Workplace, Public Spaces, and Communities would further mandate cashless payments as the preferred mode, complementing the existing Ease of Doing Business Act of 2018 and the e-Commerce Act of 2000.

“By equipping the government with end-to-end tools and supporting its digitalization policies, PayMaya is committed to contributing significantly towards driving electronic payments to 50 percent of the total transactions by 2023, as estimated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” Vea said.

“We are confident the Philippines can make this happen, with the government rolling out the National ID, which when linked to digital financial services could become a service platform for a more responsive digital government in 2021 and beyond,” he said.

PayMaya is the only end-to-end digital payments ecosystem enabler in the Philippines with platforms and services that cut across consumers, merchants, communities, and government. Through its enterprise business, it is the largest digital payments processor for key industries in the country including “everyday” merchants such as the largest retail, food, gas, and e-Commerce merchants as well as government agencies and units.