Voyager seen profitable by 2024

PLDT’s Voyager Innovations Inc. is expected to be profitable in the next five years on the back of the continuing growth of financial technology arm PayMaya Philippines Inc.

“If I recall correctly, it should break even cash wise by 2023. So maybe 2024, it would see the light of day hopefully. Those are the projections,” PLDT president and chief executive officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan said PayMaya is seen driving the turnaround as the digital financial services unit continues to be on the growth track.

“I think their throughput, the number of accounts, the number of transactions, are increasing month on month, so we are optimistic,” he said.

PayMaya is the only financial technology company in the country offering integrated consumer and merchant payment solutions with the widest on-ground branch network.

It is eyeing to post a yearly transaction volume of P1 trillion by 2023. At present, PayMaya is processing over P200 billion worth of transactions annually.

Pangilinan said the company is trying to “raise funding which could finance the next three to five years of their operations.”

Voyager last year raised $215 million following the entry of foreign investors namely, KKR, Tencent Holdings Inc., World Bank’s IFC and the IFC Emerging Asia Fund.

Voyager is a leading technology company which seeks to accelerate digital and financial inclusion in the country and enable the broader population to participate in the digital economy.

Voyager is behind Paymaya, Smart Padala, FINTQnologies Corp., Lendr and Freenet.

The company announced last August the appointment of former American Express executive and Visa director Shailesh Baidwan as its new president who will lead the technology company’s operations and help shape its strategy and business direction.