CEBU, Philippines — Electronic payments firm PayMaya is boosting its presence in Cebu by enabling more Cebu-based businesses to join the full digital payment ecosystem.
The company yesterday introduced its newest members to the cashless payment ecosystem in Cebu, namely: Bo’s Coffee, Zubuchon, Gaisano Brothers Merchandising, Cebu Belmont, Allegiant Regional Care (ARC) Hospital, Maayo Medical Clinic, RDAK Global Motors, Lite Shipping, Motor Ace Philippines, and Honda Motor World.
“Cebu’s booming economy bolstered by its thriving homegrown businesses makes it an ideal environment for cashless payments to prosper, which is why PayMaya has partnered with these merchants as we help build cashless ecosystem in Cebu,” said Mar Lazaro, head of PayMaya Business at PayMaya Philippines.
Through the various payment solutions offered by PayMaya Business, Cebu-based enterprises are able to accept Visa and Mastercard payments in-store and online, as well as new and emerging payments methods including the likes of PayMaya QR and WeChat Pay.
According to Lazaro, the company is helping the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) to raise the volume value of electronic transactions in the country from its present “negligible” level of 1 percent of all transfers to 20 percent by 2020.
At present, the Philippines is still in the one to two percent level.
“By offering cashless payment options to Cebuanos, we allow merchants to reach out to more consumers and help them participate in the growing digital economy of the country,” he added.
Earlier, PayMaya Philippines chief operating officer and managing director Paolo Azzola said that the company is on track to hit its target of 20 million users by 2020.
PayMaya, the payment arm of Voyager Innovations, sees the adoption of cashless payment to continue amid its efforts to expand its services to different avenues.
PayMaya has been aggressively using QR (quick response) technology since 2017 to allow more users to pay using their smartphones. It had sealed deals with Sy-led SM Store, Mercury Drug, Golden Arches Development Corp., among others, for this purpose.
Voyager Innovations is backed by PLDT, KKR, Tencent, and World Bank’s IFC.
Last November, it raised the largest tech funding round for a Philippine-based company.