MANILA, Philippines — Bayad, the full service financial technology subsidiary of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), has partnered with the open finance platform of the Aboitiz Group to beef up real-time bills payment solutions.
Lawrence Ferrer, president and CEO at Bayad, said the partnership with UBX would make financial services more accessible and convenient.
“As we leverage on digital financial technology, we proactively respond to market developments and adapt innovations in banking. We at Bayad will continue to create positive strides by expanding our bills payment solutions while offering the convenience of real-time posting,” Ferrer said.
Under the agreement, i2i, the banking-as-a-service venture of UBX, will leverage the network of billers of Bayad, allowing i2i banking agents to process payments for Meralco and Home Credit among others.
Apart from this, Bayad and UBX continuously recalibrate its interoperability as they are keen to scale up their ecosystem of billers from basic utilities, such as electricity and water, cable and internet, to government contributions and loan payments, school tuition fees, online shopping, insurance, and many others.
This vision of providing a one-stop-shop solution will deliver a more open and accessible financial services to individuals and thousands of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMES) in the country.
With this, sari-sari store owners, carinderia operators, and stall owners in public markets, can rely on Home Credit loans to keep their businesses going, conveniently settle their Meralco bills, and access other bills payment services that respond to the ever-changing needs of Filipinos amid the fast-paced environment brought about by the new normal.
For his part, UBX president and CEO John Januszczak said the company is committed to constantly improve its services and bring financial services closer to those who need them.
“Our partnership with Bayad will provide seamless bills payment transactions to our customers, allowing us to further strengthen our initiatives for financial inclusion,” Januszczak said.
Bayad, formerly known as Bayad Center, is now being used by more than 100,000 physical touchpoints and leading digital and mobile platforms across the country.
UBX, on the other hand, is the financial technology venture of Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines.