In continuation of the efforts of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to improve its delivery of public service, the agency has partnered with e-wallet application, PayMaya, to provide cashless distribution of financial aid to clients of the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS).
Under the AICS program, qualified indigent, marginalized, poor, or disadvantaged individuals or families may avail of any medical, educational, burial, or transportation assistance as immediate aid or safety net to help them recover from any crisis situation.
Through the partnership, clients availing of AICS can easily encash their cash aid from any of the 30,000 Smart Padala branches nationwide through their PayMaya accounts. They may also use the funds in their accounts to pay for bills, groceries, or other daily essentials, purchase airtime load, or send money to other PayMaya users through the PayMaya app.
Last month, DSWD also tapped PayMaya as one of the featured payment methods in the ReliefAgad app. Beneficiaries of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) may choose to receive their cash aid through their respective PayMaya accounts.
The Department will continue to find innovative, safer, and convenient ways to improve its cash disbursement mechanisms to provide immediate assistance to Filipinos during the public health crisis.
As quarantine guidelines relax across the country, it is still important to continue practicing social distancing in order to curb the spread of the virus. Some physical stores may have started to resume operations but purchasing essentials online remains to be the safest and most convenient option for consumers. And when you pay online using your PayMaya account, your shopping experience is not only more safe and convenient, it is also more sulit!
In line with this, PayMaya has teamed up with Lazada to provide you with the most affordable deals as you stock up on your daily essentials – from cleaning products to frozen goods and other useful household items you can use at home at the Lazada 6.6 Bounce Back Sale from June 4 to 6. You can easily get up to PHP200 off* on top of the already discounted items at Lazada when you pay using your PayMaya virtual or physical card.
And to top it all off, you're not just getting much-needed essential goods at a good discount, you are also helping local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) bounce back from the economic crisis when you shop at Lazada during the Bounce Back Sale. Since most MSMEs have been heavily affected by the pandemic, patronizing their products ensures that they get back on the path to recovery in no time.
To avail of this deal, simply redeem the PayMaya collectible discount voucher from the Lazada app starting June 3 to instantly get 10% off your purchase with a minimum spend of PHP1,200. After that, all that’s left to do is head to the checkout page and enter your PayMaya card details to pay for your purchase. Vouchers are valid from June 4 – 6, 2020 only.
“We’re glad to work with Lazada in their initiative to support businesses and consumers in these trying times. As the country starts to recover from this pandemic, cashless payment options like PayMaya play a critical role in helping consumers and businesses bounce back from this crisis. For consumers, this means being able to pay for their essentials safely and conveniently. For merchants, this means being able to accepts payments, as businesses transition to online,” said Shailesh Baidwan, President of PayMaya Philippines.
Going cashless for your online and in-store purchases provides the safest payment experience for you and the merchant you’re transacting with as this reduces contact brought about by cash handling. Apart from purchasing essential items online, you can also use PayMaya to settle your government and utility bills, send money to your loved ones, buy load and gaming pins, and so much more, at the safety of your home. To know more deals you can get with your PayMaya account, visit www.PayMaya.com/deals. Basta Lazada, don’t pay cash. PayMaya!
If you don’t have your own PayMaya account yet, it’s easy to switch to a safe and hassle-free way of paying. Just download the PayMaya app for Android or iOS, create and register your own account, and start paying for anything both online and in stores! To make the most our of your PayMaya account, check out https://www.paymaya.com/quick-guide.
Don’t forget to follow @PayMayaOfficial on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more news and updates!
PayMaya is the only end-to-end digital payments ecosystem enabler in the Philippines with platforms and services that cuts across consumers, merchants, and government. Aside from providing the payments acceptance for the largest e-Commerce, food, retail and gas merchants in the Philippines, PayMaya is enabling national and social services agencies as well as local government units with digital payments and disbursement services.
Through its PayMaya app and wallet, it is providing millions of Filipinos with the fastest way to own a financial account with over 40,000 Add Money touchpoints nationwide, more than double the total number of traditional bank branches in the Philippines combined. Its Smart Padala by PayMaya network of over 30,000 partner agents nationwide serves as last mile digital financial hubs in communities, providing the unbanked and underserved with access to services. To know more about PayMaya's products and services, visit www.PayMaya.com or follow @PayMayaOfficial on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*10% OFF, capped at PHP200. Minimum spend of PHP1,200
Per DTI Fair Trade Permit No. FTEB 06398, Series of 2020.
MANILA, JUNE 3, 2020 --- Attention, Shopee fans! Shopee’s 6.6 Super Flash Sale is here with jewelry, bags, electronic gadgets, and home appliances for as low as ₱6. During the 6.6 sale, users can also expect up to 80% off on select items, flash deals every ten minutes, cashbacks and vouchers to be given away on D-Day.
Here are six awesome buys you can check out on June 6:
1. CK-140 Automatic Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor
Make sure you and your loved ones’ blood pressure is stable during this time with this automatic blood pressure monitor.
2. Popcorn Fast-Charging PowerBank
Keep your mobile phones and other electronic gadgets charged and ready-to-use with this fast-charging power bank.
3. Catherine Anti-theft Leather Bag
Secure your belongings well with this anti-theft bag that’s made of leather. It comes in two colors: black and coffee brown.
4. LS Jewelry 18K Gold-Plated Drop Earrings
Complete your look with these gold-plated earrings that come in six different colors.
5. Seagate 1TB Backup Plus Slim New USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive
Back up all important data in a secure device. There are four colors available: silver, blue, red and gold.
6. ACE SL-24" TV-3.5A Ultra Slim LED-220 Television
Sit back and relax with the whole family with this 24-inch, USB-ready TV.
As local governments implement initiatives to alleviate the financial situation of their constituents, GCash willingly lent a helping hand to serve as a distribution platform for cash assistance. Makati is the first city in Metro Manila to implement contactless financial assistance through GCash and the Makatizen Card. Under the Makatizen Economic Relief Program, now called the MAKA-tulong 5K for 500K+ Makatizens, the local government provides its individual qualified citizens with P5,000 in financial assistance.
“The P5K financial assistance we are giving to all Makatizens aims to help them alleviate the burden of paying their bills at this time when income for most is hard to come by. I was happy to hear stories on how Makatizens have put this help to good use by also investing in alternative sources of livelihood. I'm proud to say, maabilidad, masipag at maaasahan talaga ang mga Makatizens”, said Makati Mayor Abby Binay.
One of those who were able to benefit from this partnership is Diana Oblino, a resident of Barangay Olympia. She and five other members of her household were able to receive P25,000 in cash, which they used to pay the pile of electricity and water bills which accumulated during the quarantine.
Not only that, they were also able to open a small sari-sari store to keep their money growing instead of spending it all in one go.
“Because of the MAKA-tulong Program, we were able to build another source of income that would help us get through these trying times,” Oblino said.
Oblino said the process of receiving was easy, because they only needed to wait until GCash sent them a notification saying that P5,000 was deposited to their e-wallets.
“What a relief really, that in our ‘new normal’ – the time of social distancing and quarantine, Makati was able to lessen human-to-human contact and distribute cash through online platforms because of a project launched years ago,” she added.
The MAKA-tulong Program also helped Joeffrey Furo, who is among the first batch of beneficiaries, to use the financial aid as fresh capital for his e-loading business, small sari-sari store and computer repair shop. For Furo, the money came as a beacon of hope amid the crisis, since he was a person with disability (PWD) who had a wife and a child to support. His leg was amputated after he figured in a hit-and-run accident.
Needless to say, the cash aid inspired many Makatizens to join the community of online food sellers. Rinalyn Binongo of Barangay West Rembo shared on Facebook how she used the money as added capital to expand her online food selling business.
“We’re very happy to have inspired a significant number of Makatizens to pursue businesses to grow their money amid the pandemic. GCash hopes to extend this kind of assistance to other local governments to help lift the burden of Filipinos who have been greatly impacted by COVID-19, economic or otherwise,” said GCash Vice President for Enterprise Luigi Reyes.
Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), which operates GCash, is part of the portfolio companies of 917Ventures, the largest corporate incubator in the Philippines wholly-owned by Globe Telecom Inc.
GCash is available for download on the App Store and Google Play. For more information, kindly visit https://www.gcash.com/.
Amid the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine, more and more Filipinos are turning to online community groups to find their everyday essentials and more.
According to Viber, its usage in the Philippines surged in the past weeks: messages sent on the app have increased by 120 percent, calls received by users are up by 85%, and the average number of community engagement has also risen by 120%.
“The significant increase in community engagement tells us that Filipinos want to stay connected, and do it more purposefully. With everyone confined to their homes, Filipinos are striving for closer and more meaningful interactions,” said Veronica Feleo, Business Development Manager, Rakuten Viber, during a webinar series titled Social in the Age of Social Distancing organized by M2.0 Communications, Inc.
Feleo was joined by fellow panelists Lia Ejercito, Head of Digital and Social for M2.0, and Niña Cruz-Zialcita, Chief Inquisitor at Best of the Best Manila, one of the largest Facebook Groups in the Philippines.
“At the start of the year, when all of the experts were declaring that [direct] social was going to be a big thing this year, we expected more of a slow burn,” said Ejercito. “But the reality is, now, there's been such a drastic shift, and I think that is coming as a result of COVID-19 and the whole ECQ situation that we've experienced in the past few weeks.”
Amid the lockdown, information and food essentials have been top of mind for many Filipinos, with the Department of Health’s COVID-19 Advisory Community and the Food Contacts Community among the top-performing communities on Viber during this period.
Virtual communities
User-generated content communities have become so popular that Viber even has a dedicated community that serves as a directory for existing communities on the app. These user-created groups serve as channels that cover a variety of topics and interests, ranging from hyper-local marketplaces to neighborhood coordination points.
“The expectation was that [direct] social would overtake mainstream social," said Ejercito, adding "[Direct] social platforms have also replaced a lot of face-to-face interactions.”
Best of the Best Manila—a thriving private Facebook Group in the country with over 22,000 members—started out as a group of friends with shared interests. The group functions as a recommendation channel for what are the best experiences in Manila, covering food, entertainment, travel and lifestyle. Cruz-Zialcita recalled, “We started out asking questions about the best bread or the best printer. It caught on from there.”
During the lockdown, however, Cruz-Zialcita noted that discussions have taken on a different track: “These days, the questions are grounded on what people need: Who are the best fruit suppliers? What are the best home exercises?”
Digital Bayanihan
Beyond sharing information and sourcing basic necessities, online groups have also become platforms for digital bayanihan. During the onset of the lockdown, Best of the Best Manila raised over P200,000 from its members, which were donated to support frontliners in their fight against COVID-19.
“I don't think that COVID is the reason for why these communities exist. It maybe just propelled all of these types of groups and made them grow so much more active," said Ejercito. “But if we go back to how direct social was discovered in the first place, it was all about referrals. It works, I think, because it's very personal, it's very direct, and it's very authentic."
