Based on projected 2015 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, in the next decade, Filipino millennials aged 15 to 35 will be the largest living generation—and their numbers and lifestyle will shape the country’s socio-economic and cultural development.
This early, PayMaya Philippines is helping to enable this frontier market segment. With most of this population currently in school today, PayMaya has tied up with schools to innovate on student IDs that double as prepaid payment cards. This not only gives students a means to receive their allowance from their parents efficiently, it also allows them to maximize the opportunity that the digital economy presents including advanced learning, entrepreneurship, efficient transport, access to content and e-commerce, and more.
PayMaya school IDs (a product of PayMaya Philippines for academic institutions) can be used as a way for parents to track their child’s expenses and whereabouts in and out of campus since the cards of their kids are linked to their account.
“Right now, various schools are using PayMaya school IDs including STI, Espiritu Santo Parochial School, Manila Cathedral School, St. Joseph Parochial School, Holy Child Catholic School, San Rafael Parochial School, Heaven Montessori School and there will be more,” said Sharon Kayanan, Marketing and Brand Head, PayMaya Philippines.
“The lack of payment tools hinders students to access the digital global economy, which is key to learning and an improved quality of life. With PayMayaSchool ID, the strategy revolves around creating cashless ecosystems, which entails providing acceptance not only within the school premises but to the surrounding stores outside the campus such as photocopy stores, school supplies outlets, bookstores, and novelty shops among others,” Kayanan added.
With this unique school ID system, the unbanked and the uncarded segment of society such as the millennials and students who can’t qualify yet for a credit card now have their fair share of the benefits of the digital financial ecosystem.
How PayMaya works
PayMaya is an app that gives you a virtual prepaid payment card. You download it and register with any mobile number and you get a Mastercard if you’re a Smart subscriber, a Visa if you’re a non-Smart subscriber. You can load up your PayMaya at any of the over 15,000 top up stations nationwide which include SM Business Centers, Robinsons Department Stores, 7-Eleven, Petron stations along NLEX and Ministop with Touchpay Kiosks, UnionBank ATMs, Shopwise, Wellcome, 2Go outlets, Smart Padala centers, Palawan Pawnshop, and online banking via BDO and UnionBank.
You can use both the virtual and physical card to pay online in any website that accepts card payments like airlines and shopping sites. In the app itself, you can also pay utility bills, buy discounted airtime load and Cignal prepaid load.
You can also buy the physical PayMaya card at www.paymaya.com for P150, free of delivery charges nationwide. Like the app, you load it up with cash and use it to pay in any establishment here and abroad, anywhere cards are accepted. You can link the card to the app to have a shared e-wallet and to monitor your transactions via the app.
Like credit cards, the PayMaya physical card is accepted in any brick-and-mortar outlet that accepts card payments. However, unlike credit cards, PayMaya is prepaid and you can only spend the amount that is loaded in your account. With this, you can control your spending more easily. You also don’t need to fill out paper forms and wait for an approval to get one. Unlike debit cards, you don’t have to open a bank account to get PayMaya. Finally, PayMaya doesn’t charge for any annual or maintenance fees.
“If you have PayMaya, you can pay for what you need without having to carry cash, which poses a security risk. If your card gets lost or stolen, you can simply go to the app to block your card yourself for security purposes,” explained Kayanan.
“It’s convenient because when you shop online, for example, you don’t have to be physically there and wait for the delivery, which is usually what happens when you pay through cash-on-delivery or COD.”
When the user needs cash, all they have to do is withdraw using their PayMaya physical card through any Bancnet ATM nationwide. Sending money and withdrawing cash are applicable only to upgraded accounts. Users must undergo the BSP policy called Know-Your-Customer (KYC) to upgrade the account which is free.
Key features and functions of the PayMaya School IDs
The PayMaya school ID—the first of its kind in the Philippines—works as an attendance monitoring tool. When students tap their PayMaya School ID at the gates whenever they enter or exit school premises, an SMS notification is sent to their parents to let them know that their kids are at the campus already. This will help parents be assured of their child’s safety.
Aside from attendance, it can help parents monitor the expenses of their kids. Since it is a payment card at the same time, it can be used inside and outside the school to transact at stores that accept card payments including cafeteria, library, bookstore, etc. There is no need for students to bring cash. At the same time, they can use the ID to transact online, buy e-books, subscribe to Spotify Premium, iFlix, and Netflix, reserve movie tickets, and more!
PayMaya also works best for money or allowance transfers during emergency. When students run out of cash and need to buy a supply from a bookstore for a school project, they can just text their parents to load their account anytime, anywhere.
Easy, safe, and reliable
PayMaya Philippines is an entity regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), and holds an electronic money license from the BSP. It strictly complies with the highest monetary regulatory entity in the country, as well as international card security bodies such as PCI DSS.
PayMaya is also powered by features such as real-time SMS notification and in-app transaction history, which are available to the user for every transaction and purchase made through the PayMaya app or card: where you purchased from, how much it costs, and your available balance. You will know right away if there is any illegitimate activity on your account.
“We stand at the shoulders of the achievements Smart Money, Inc. (now PayMaya Philippines), which is the global pioneer in mobile money. Smart Money is hailed as the world’s first payment card linked to a mobile phone. We are also extremely proud that PayMaya Philippines is the first non-financial institution in Asia to be granted by Visa and Mastercard with both Issuing and Acquiring licenses,” Kayanan conluded.
For more information on PayMaya, visit www.paymaya.com. Engage with us on social media at @PayMayaOfficial. Get support and upgrade your PayMaya account at @PayMayaCares on Facebook.