SSS taps PayMaya for digital payments

By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter

PAYMAYA Philippines, Inc. is partnering with the Social Security System (SSS) to offer its digital payment solutions to SSS members.

The mobile wallet arm of PLDT, Inc. signed an agreement with the state-run pension fund on Wednesday to embed a payment option directly through the SSS mobile application.

With the partnership, SSS members may deposit their monthly contributions from the fund’s mobile application using their PayMaya accounts or any credit or debit card.

A P10 fee will be charged if a member chooses to pay through the PayMaya mobile wallet, while a convenience fee worth 1.67% of the total amount will be charged if payment is through a credit or debit card.

Aside from developing the SSS app, PayMaya will also be deploying digital payment terminals in around 200 SSS branches starting January. This is expected to augment the transaction process in SSS stores.

“I can say that this is one of the most comprehensive, progressive and impactful digital transformation programs in government where we have been involved. On the part of PayMaya, we are excited to see SSS join and lead the digital club among government agencies,” PayMaya Founder and Chief Executive Officer Orlando B. Vea said in the signing program yesterday.

“This will bring us at PayMaya closer to our ambitious goal of enabling P1 trillion worth of digital transactions in the Philippines by 2023,” he added.

For the SSS, the partnership is expected to help increase the adoption rate of its mobile application, which recorded 2.91 million downloads since it was launched last year until November.

“The public has been very much aware that we have been exerting all efforts to make SSS transactions hassle-free through our gradual shift to the digital platforms. This is one of our options to eliminate long queues in automated teller services in branches and other accredited partner agencies,” SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora C. Ignacio said.

SSS said its collections have been growing between 10-20% year-on-year, where as of end-November, it has collected P241 billion from 17-18 million paying members.

“This is only the beginning of our continuous effort to provide quality and convenient services to our members. Hopefully, we can soon use PayMaya for loan repayments and payments from employers not only in the SSS mobile app but also even on the SSS website,” Ms. Ignacio added.

Before partnering with PayMaya, the SSS mobile app was used to generate a payment reference number (PRN) which members need to input third party mobile wallets to make an online transaction. Its partner-banks for this were BancNet Online, GCash, Sky Freight Forwarders, Unionbank Mobile and Ventaja International Corp.

PayMaya is under PLDT’s digital arm Voyager Innovations, Inc., which is backed by China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd.; US-based Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR); International Finance Corp. (IFC) and IFC Emerging Asia Fund.

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.