Paymaya, AMLC ink pact to fight financial crimes

PAYMAYA recently signed an Information-sharing Protocol (ISP) agreement with the Anti-money Laundering Council (AMLC) to help the government prevent and combat financial crimes.

Shailesh Baidwan, president of Paymaya, said the ISP between AMLC and Paymaya is going to be a bilateral agreement and cooperative framework towards a more efficient communication and collaboration to prevent and mitigate financial crimes in the country.

“As digital payments adoption continues to accelerate among Filipinos, the safety and security of the financial accounts of our customers are paramount. Financial services providers have the responsibility of safeguarding this trust. At Paymaya, we are reaffirming our full commitment to ensuring that transactions made by our customers and partners in our various platforms are safe and secure to maintain their overall trust in our systems,” Baidwan said.

Mel Georgie B. Racela, executive director of AMLC said the participation of the private sector is vital in the fight against money laundering and other massive crimes.

“As we continue to enforce the country’s laws against money laundering and terrorism financing, collaboration with the private sector has become more crucial. We truly appreciate the support of Paymaya for this initiative, especially now that more Filipinos are employing cashless transactions,” Racela said.

Through the ISP, the AMLC and Paymaya will collaborate in areas of information-sharing and capacity building to help strengthen the integrity of the Philippine financial system. As part of its campaign against financial crimes, Baidwan said Paymaya beefed up its capability by deploying anti-fraud detection tools, implementing a more stringent know your customer process, and actively informing its users through several campaigns on how to avoid being victimized by fraudsters and other unscrupulous individuals.

Aside from financial fraud, Racela said the ISP between AMLC and Paymaya can also be tapped to fight other crimes including online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, human trafficking, terrorism financing, swindling or estafa, and donation scams, among others.