Digital payments firm PayMaya has expanded the mobile payment ecosystem in Boracay through the PayMaya QR, which visitors and residents alike can use to pay for tricycle rides, beach essentials, and food staples.
Beach-goers around the recently re-opened island popular for its white-sand beaches can now pay using only their mobile phones in hundreds of merchants all across Boracay, ranging from food establishments, hotel and accommodations, merchandise, micro-sellers, and even transportation, among many others.
“As we’ve noted early this year, PayMaya is increasingly becoming the preferred mode of payment for travelers. But it’s not just for booking their travel necessities online – increasingly, they are able to use PayMaya in many local destinations including Boracay, where it makes better sense to handle less cash when paying for their items,” said Paolo Azzola, chief operating officer and managing director at PayMaya.
PayMaya said it is now the preferred payment option in some of the merchants in Boracay where users can pay using their app via PayMaya QR, including restaurants like Spice Bird in D’Mall, Titos near Station 2, and Sunny Side Café in Station 3; convenience store like Budget Mart; and Epic Bar, among many others.
This is on top of the initial batch of merchants that have been offering PayMaya QR as a payment method in Hue Hotels and Resorts as well as small merchants in Station X, which was launched in January of 2018, including other nationwide key merchants such as McDonald’s, Army Navy, Yellow Cab, Shakey’s, and Mercury Drug, among others.
At the same time, vacationers can add money to their accounts through specially-designated Add Money kiosks around the island, as well as via Palawan Express branches within Boracay. Additionally, they can add money to their accounts even before flying to Boracay through their online banking accounts via Instapay.
The initiative is seen to further boost the tourism industry and the local economy in Boracay, which was just recently re-opened following a six-month closure for rehabilitation by the government.
It also follows PayMaya’s establishment of similar “cashless communities” all around the country – including in areas such as La Union, Baguio, Cebu, and General Santos, among others – as it leads the country toward adopting mobile and digital ways of transacting for their everyday needs.
By establishing a mobile-based cashless ecosystem in the island, commerce is expected to flow more smoothly and help reduce the friction and risk of paying via cash.
