PayMaya brings mobile interoperability to Globe’s GCash users

Digital silos have been broken down some more. Smart announced at a recent meetup with bloggers that their PayMaya, a digital service that allows the mobile flow of money and provides you with a reloadable Visa card which you can shop online and offline, wherever Visa is accepted, as well as to transfer funds to mobile users of both Smart and Globe.

A little background on PayMaya

My first encounter with PayMaya was when I was sent my very own PayMaya card. It’s basically a debit card. You load it up and use it to shop online or in physical stores that accept Visa. What’s awesome about it is that if you download the PayMaya app (from Apple Store or Google Play), you need not eve bring your actual PayMaya card because you can be assigned a VIRTUAL Visa card linked to your PayMaya physical card. When shopping, you can use the virtual card since both the virtual and physical cards share the same load balance. You also are assured of digital security because PayMaya is supported by the VISA system. How neat is that!

 

 

PayMaya is now telco-agnostic!

Telco-agnostic refers to a service that is independent of any mobile network and works with any of them. When a product feature is telco-agnostic, you know that we are getting closer and closer to greater financial inclusion (that state where financial services are delivered at affordable costs to disadvantaged sectors of society).

PayMaya is now telco-agnostic; it is interoperable with Globe’s GCash! GCash users can receive money from users of PayMaya without having to open a PayMaya account or be a Smart subscriber. And that works the other way too – funds can be sent from GCash to a PayMaya account.

Here’s how it will work:

First, download the PayMaya app and create an account using your Smart mobile number.

 

 

 

As I was listening to the PayMaya team, I was wondering about top-up outlets.  Going to a 7-11 outlet to top-up was not my idea of convenience so I asked if PayPal balance could be used to top up a PayMaya VISA card and…..yes, it can!!! In fact, they also showed us the top 5 sites where PayMaya is used:

1. Google Play Store – PayMaya users on Android use it to download work- and gaming-related apps on Google Play.

2. PayPal – PayMaya is used as a fund source for their PayPal transactions.

3. iTunes – PayMaya is used to purchase songs on iTunes that are not available on Spotify.

4. Spotify – PayMaya users avail of Spotify Premium to select songs they want to stream, download, and listen to offline.

5. Steam – I have a Steam account. But I only have a handful of games installed, unlike my kids who have bought several. It’s good to know that gamers can use PayMaya to play games, access updates, avail of upgrades, and join communities.

This kind of interoperability really benefits us, the consumers. It will be a big boost to the use of mobile money and hopefully, eventually expands the local digital commerce ecosystem. On top of that, it’s really that simple to use PayMaya and there are plans to expand its features in the future. Exciting times!

 

For more information about PayMaya and how to get your very own PayMaya card, simply download the PayMaya app on the App Store or Google Play, or visit www.paymaya.com