Maya sustains profit run in H1

MANILA, Philippines — All-in-one money app Maya sustained its upward trajectory in the first half of the year despite initiatives to tighten rules on online gambling payments or even ban online gambling access in e-wallets.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman, president and CEO of PLDT Inc., which owns a partial stake in Maya, said the company continued to book a profit in the first half.

“Maya, they’re doing very well. They’re showing good profitability for the first half of the year. They showed their June numbers already,” he said, without disclosing the numbers.

Maya became profitable for the first time in December 2024.

The company successfully carried over its financial momentum from the end of last year to early 2025, recording a profit in the first quarter on the back of growing deposits and more lending.

Pangilinan said that online gaming is currently not a major contributor to the revenue or to the gross transaction value of Maya.

“We asked for some details because part of their gross transaction value there were entertainment, government and utilities. So we asked for a breakdown. They do have some e-gaming revenues, but they said it’s not very large. Ten to 20 percent, something like that,” he said.

Calls have been made to strengthen safeguards on payment channels linked to online gaming to protect the welfare of Filipino consumers.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has outlined new rules in a draft circular requiring banks, e-wallets and other payment service providers to implement enhanced safeguards before facilitating online gambling payments.

Pangilinan assured that Maya is continuously elevating its safeguards.

“We asked them for assurances and they said they do,” he said.

Maya is keen on sustaining its lead as the largest merchant acquirer for digital payments as well as innovating new solutions to widen its customer base.

The company also intends to scale up its ecosystem to cover more merchants and potential borrowers.