PayMaya Philippines (formerly Smart eMoney, Inc.) continues to lead the mobile remittance industry with its Smart Padala service on the back of a new consumer brand campaign coupled with strong remittance volumes here and abroad, further bolstering the Philippine economy as investor and consumer confidence likewise continues to expand.
Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), in particular, reached $25.8 billion in 2015 and accounted for 9.8% of the country’s economic output last year. But with the brisk growth in mobile-based remittance led by PayMaya Philippines’ Smart Padala remittance service, further expansion is to be expected.
The company expects an overall transaction throughput volume of P200-billion by end-2016. PayMaya Philippines will source the throughput volumes from its PayMaya digital payments wallet app, PayMaya Business and trade payment solutions, Smart Padala mobile money transfer and remittance service.
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| Orlando B. Vea, President and CEO of PayMaya Philippines and Voyager Innovations. |
“Opportunities in this industry remain huge as there is a still vast need to service the gaps for the unbanked and uncarded Filipinos. We are sustaining Smart Padala’s momentum as the leading mobile remittance service in the country through our new brand campaign, more pervasive on-ground presence with our flagship stores, enhanced services, more partnerships and inclusive innovations. Through these efforts, we hope to drive financial inclusion as we also grow our business,” said Orlando B. Vea, president and CEO of PayMaya Philippines and Voyager Innovations.
According to a recent mobile money report by the GSMA, mobile money has immense potential to change lives and livelihoods around the world because of its security, convenience, and instantaneous nature. It is also available in majority of economies with fewer than 20% of the population having access to formal financial institutions, such as the Philippines.
Digital and mobile money services are therefore seen as critical elements in bridging economic growth through financial inclusion. Based on data from the 1st National Baseline Survey on Financial Inclusion released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) last year, 7 out of 10 Filipinos are still unbanked.
It also takes Filipinos an average of 22 minutes to reach the nearest financial services provider. In terms of cost, the average round trip fare to reach a financial access point is P43. Meanwhile, for a country with a 119 million population, mobile phone penetration is at 117%, underscoring the huge role of mobile in enabling financial access.
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| Angel Locsin, Smart Padala brand ambassador |
Vea reaffirmed this positive outlook during the unveiling today of the new Smart Padala logo and the launch of its new campaign with celebrity Angel Locsin as its brand ambassador. The campaign aims to reinforce the unique selling proposition of Smart Padala as the most accessible, convenient, innovative and relevant mobile money remittance service in the Philippines.
Mobile money as driver for progress
With the most number of touchpoints at 15,000 Padala partner centers and growing, Smart Padala has started rolling out its rebranded flagship stores across the country. Aside from stronger presence and merchandising with the new logo, the flagship stores also offer enhanced services including international remittance, bills payment and as fulfillment center for other upcoming financial technology services.
Smart Padala has also been deploying consumer-oriented promotions such as its Padalang Padalow for lower customer service fees and incentives to Padala partners.
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| Benjie Fernandez, co-COO of PayMaya Philippines and COO of Voyager Innovations |
“Underlying this campaign is our commitment to provide financially inclusive services, a mission that remains unchanged since we launched the brand ten years ago. What has further grown is the increasing use case of mobile as a tool for socio-economic progress. From just being a tool for communications, the use of mobile for financial services is helping individuals, families, businesses and communities," said Benjie Fernandez, co-COO of PayMaya Philippines and COO of Voyager Innovations.
Financial inclusion through innovation
“PayMaya Philippines continues to take an active role in accelerating financial inclusion in the Philippines through inclusive innovations. We have transitioned from a SIM-based, telco-based platform to an app-enabled, over-the-top digital platform to serve more users, with an eye not just in the Philippine market but beyond,” said Paolo Azzola, Managing Director and co-COO of PayMaya Philippines.
To make mobile money more inclusive, PayMaya Philippines introduced the Smart Padala Pick-Up Anywhere enhanced service in December last year, allowing customers to send money to anyone, regardless of mobile network, and to be redeemed at any Smart Padala center nationwide.
PayMaya Philippines, part of the Voyager Group, is the digital financial services unit of PLDT and Smart Communications (Smart). Its services are regulated by the BSP to ensure all user transactions are secure. Aside from being the first non-financial institution in Asia to be granted an issuing and acquiring license by Visa, PayMaya Philippines also counts MasterCard as its partner.
To know more about Smart Padala, visit www.smartpadala.ph or like their official Facebook page, www.facebook.com/SmartPadalaPH.
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