PAYMAYA tallied the highest number of touchpoints where clients can add money into their digital wallets in a bid to push financial inclusion.

In a statement over the weekend, PayMaya said it now has a network of over 40,000 touchpoints, the widest network tapped by any digital wallet in the country.

Orlando B. Vea, PayMaya chief executive officer and founder, said its touchpoint network is almost double the number of offices and branches of banks and other financial institutions regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Latest central bank data showed there were 25,813 branches of BSP-supervised financial institutions as of end-June.

PayMaya customers can add money to their mobile wallets physically through banks, convenience stores, pawnshops, bills payment centers and kiosks.

They can also add and remit digitally through online banking via InstaPay, an electronic fund transfer system that processes real-time transfers worth P50,000 or lower across accounts or e-wallets from different banks or service providers.

“This is part of our efforts to make digital financial services more accessible to all Filipinos. For our customers, we are making it even more convenient for them to fund and use their PayMaya e-wallet — whether via online, mobile, or face-to-face,” Mr. Vea said.

“This is an important foundation of the cashless ecosystem that we are building to enable Filipinos to gain access to the growing digital economy,” he added.

According to the latest Financial Inclusion Survey conducted by the BSP in 2017, only 22.6%, or some 15.8 million Filipino adults, maintain formal bank accounts, citing lack of money and lack of need to have an account as the main reasons

The central bank is eyeing to raise the share of e-payments to 20% of all transactions in the Philippines by 2020, coming from a measly 1% share back in 2013.

PayMaya is handled by PLDT’s digital arm Voyager Innovations, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — KANV

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