Voyager Innovations, the technology company behind e-wallet platform PayMaya and soon-to-be-launched digital bank Maya Bank, said it raised $210 million in new funds, propelling its valuation to unicorn status at nearly $1.4 billion.
Said to be the first of its kind in the Philippines, the payment service allows users to transfer money to any bank or e-wallet without the need for the recipient’s account details – only an email.
Jovelyn Hao, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s FinTech Innovation and Policy Research Group acting head, said the central bank is open to leveraging the gains brought about by fintech innovations amid the pandemic.
Aside from venture capital, Plentina co-founder and CEO Kevin Gabayan said government grants that do not add red tape would also contribute to a startup’s progress.
Fintech startup Plentina recently appointed Alex Aronson, a veteran of the e-commerce and retail technology industry, to be its next general manager for the Philippines.
A recent study of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said among the industry’s weaknesses include issues arising from access points, the distrust from using technologies, poor connectivity, and the high cost of Internet in the country.
NextPay, launched in 2020 amid the pandemic, is a platform that provides underserved customers democratized access to easy and affordable financial services such as digital invoicing, cash management, and batch payments to any bank or e-wallet in the Philippines.
Tech firm Smile API said its platform allows local businesses to add features and functionality that is specific to their products and facilitates the application approval (or rejection) within just a few seconds.
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has joined hands with two groups from the finance sector in urging online lenders to stop excessive data collection and start complying with the Data Privacy Act.
