MORE DIGITAL PAYMENT SERVICES BY NEXT YEAR
PLDT’s mobile remittance brand wants to provide international remittances, bills payments, loans disbursement, QR payments and digital goods to its list of available services
PLDT Inc.’s mobile remittance brand under PayMaya Philippines, Smart Padala, announced it will be rolling out more digital payment services early next year to boost the businesses of its 26,000 partner agents in the country.
PayMaya Philippines associate director Rolando Conejos Jr., on Wednesday, Nov. 21, announced that besides catering to remittances, the company’s partner agents can now expand their business by offering other value-added digital services such as bills payments, loans disbursement, Add Money to PayMaya accounts, QR payments and digital goods.
Besides these, Smart Padala is also targeting to launch inter- national remittances by the first quarter of 2019 through a partnership with Western Union.
“By early next year, we will convert our 26,000 agents into digital hubs,” said Conejos.
The move, however, will be offered initially to agents who have deep pockets, as some services require additional investment.
Under the current setup, Smart Padala’s micro entrepreneurs only invest P5,000 to start the remittance business. The company doesn’t charge them with a franchise fee, nor require them to purchase sophisticated technology or mobile phones to run the business.
But Conejos said that should they start offering bills payment services, the partner agent may have to invest some P40,000 to P50,000 to run the service.
“You need to fund your wallet for you to be able to cater to other services since these transactions tend to be bigger,” he said.
Besides the additional investment, the rollout of additional digital services will also depend on the network access. He said the area should be at least 3G-capable.
According to Conejos, Smart Padala has already cornered 85 percent of the country, which means they already have a wider network that serves customers in far flung communities and barangays.
According to the Inclusive Digital Finance Report released by Fintq in 2017, more than 70 percent of the provinces have medium to low access to formal financial services.
Conejos said that by reaching out to this underserved market, consumers save time and resources when claiming money or paying financial obligations, at the same time helping micro-entrepreneurs grow their business.
For an initial capital of P5,000, Conejos said a micro-entrepreneur can earn up to P15,000 a month if the money is rolled out right.
Of the 26,000 agents, Conejos said 70 percent are in Luzon and only 30 percent are in Visayas and Mindanao.
By next year, Smart Padala aims to grow its agent base by 10,000 more, especially in the Visayas.