PayMaya, Western Union expand remittance partnership

MANILA, Philippines — Mobile money and digital payments pioneer PayMaya Philippines Inc. and global cross-border, cross-currency money movement firm Western Union Co. have expanded their partnership to allow more Filipinos to conveniently and directly receive Western Union domestic and international remittances into their PayMaya accounts anytime and anywhere.

With the partnership, recipients of a Western Union money transfer in the Philippines can choose PayMaya to quickly access the money sent to them.

“Our aim is to offer seamless money transfers for all. This means reaching out to customers across all channels including mobile. Filipinos can now choose digital pay-out on their PayMaya mobile wallet in addition to visiting a Western Union Agent location to pick up cash,” said Bassem Awada, Western Union’s regional vice president for Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, and Brunei.

PayMaya Philippines president and chief executive officer Orlando Vea said the collaboration with Western Union would drive greater financial inclusion for families across the country.

“All they need to receive their Western Union money transfer via PayMaya is their mobile phones. It’s convenient, quick and easy and allows them to save time and money for other more important things,” Vea said.

Upon downloading the PayMaya app, customers are required to formally register and upgrade their accounts to receive remittances. They may also add money to their accounts at any of the over 15,000 add money stations nationwide.

PayMaya account holders can receive up to $500 (approximately P25,000) per transaction or $1,500 (approximately P75,000) per day, or up to a maximum PayMaya wallet capacity of $2,000 (approximately P100,000) per month.

Once the funds have been added to their account, users receive a real-time SMS notification and can monitor transaction history within the app.

After the remittance has been credited to the recipient’s account, they can use their PayMaya app to pay bills, buy discounted prepaid mobile load from all local networks, shop online using the virtual card or pay for items in-store using PayMaya QR.

PayMaya Philippines is the digital financial services arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations. It is the first prepaid online payment app that enables the financially underserved to pay online without a credit card.