Remittance firm MoneyGram International has announced a partnership with PayMaya to launch a new digital capability that allows customers to send money from the United States to the Philippines through Visa Direct, Visa’s real-time push-payment solution.
The approximately two million Filipinos living and working in the US will now be able to use MoneyGram to send money via Visa Direct either on MoneyGram’s website or mobile app, to any PayMaya account holder in the Philippines using their 16-digit Visa physical or virtual card number.
Once they have received the funds in their PayMaya accounts, they can use the funds to shop online or in-store using the same Visa card, or buy load, pay their bills, settle their government dues, and send money to other PayMaya users or Smart Padala centers nationwide, all within the PayMaya app.
“Our digital business is delivering phenomenal growth driven by strong demand for our customer-centric capabilities as well as our leading global network that enables consumers to quickly and conveniently receive money directly into their bank accounts,” said Kamila Chytil, MoneyGram chief operating officer and leader of the company’s digital business.
“Our strong partnership with Visa Direct has been an important part of our strategy to accelerate digital growth over the last few years, and I’m excited about how this latest integration with PayMaya will further improve the customer experience and drive digital growth.”
Shailesh Baidwan, president of PayMaya, said: “We are glad to offer yet another convenient way for PayMaya account holders across the country to quickly and conveniently receive funds from their loved ones in the United States through our partnership with MoneyGram and Visa. As cashless becomes the default for most, Filipinos can now experience safe and convenient ways to receive funds and transact even while at home through this service using their PayMaya app.”
Dan Wolbert, Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam, said: “In the Philippines today, majority of Visa debit and prepaid cards are enabled to receive real-time payments via Visa’s real-time push payment solution, Visa Direct. We are extremely pleased to work with PayMaya and MoneyGram to enable Visa cardholders in the Philippines the ability to receive funds seamlessly and securely from their family and loved ones in United States.
According to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, overseas Filipino workers made a total of US$11 billion for US-based remittances in 2019 and money transfers from US contributed close to 40% of total remittances in the Philippines.
