During the Pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, more and more people are jumping into contactless payment and are striving to adopt cashless payments as much as possible. That’s why it’s no coincidence that our own government turned to them as they move to encourage more people to pay their government bills via these new payment channels.
Cutting process, reducing lines and settling all your government requirements, bills, permits has been made easier because of online process implementations. According to PayMaya in their recent press briefing, they have onboarded the Land Transportation Office (LTO), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the City of Taguig, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), and the Optical Media Board (OMB) among the more than 50 government agencies and local government units that are already accepting card and e-Wallet payments for various transactions, such as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Social Security System (SSS), the PAG-IBIG Fund, the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), and the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), City of Valenzuela, Ormoc City, and Parañaque City, and such.
PayMaya has been heavily investing in their end-to-end digital payments solution and this, in turn, has pushed these various government agencies to offer a far more convenient (and safer) way for people to avail of their services and pay for them.
“By going digital and offering cashless payment options, the government is helping address our two most pressing issues today: ensuring the safety of all citizens and helping in the recovery of the economy. We at PayMaya are always excited to partner with agencies and LGUs to offer our solutions to enable them to offer better and more transparent services to the public,” said Orlando Vea, Founder and CEO of PayMaya.
In June, PayMaya reported a 900% year-on-year increase on payments to government as it onboarded more agency and LGU partners and actively encouraged the use of cashless payments for paying government fees.
This is deemed crucial as people can continue to avail of various government services and the government in turn can quickly, and more transparently acquire funds to re-energize the country especially in these crucial times.
And yes, while we can groan and roll our eyes, the reality is we need the government as much as they need us and by enabling more convenient constituent touch-points here and abroad, the country can continue to survive and weather this pandemic.
In the same press briefing, various government secretaries and representatives shared valuable case studies of their departments adopting the contactless payment system:
- With tax payments now available in the PayMaya app, the BIR is able to continue collecting taxes from consumers and businesses despite the quarantine restrictions around the country in the past month.
- Through the SSS mobile app, members here and abroad can use their PayMaya account or credit and debit cards to remit their monthly contributions, and even receive their funeral and other benefit proceeds using their PayMaya account.
- Members of the PAG-IBIG fund, meanwhile, can continue remitting their contribution payments and even top up their savings accounts using card and e-Wallet payments even if they are abroad.
- Car dealers and motorists can soon easily pay for motor vehicle registration and renewal fees using cashless means at the Land Transportation Office website.
To help encourage more Filipinos to use cashless means of paying their government fees and dues, PayMaya is offering a cashback on transaction fees when they use their PayMaya mobile number to pay in select online and mobile government channels until September 30, 2020.
Users can get a cashback voucher when they pay using their PayMaya-registered mobile numbers at the websites of the DFA, PRC, NHMFC, the Construction Industry Association of the Philippines, Taxumo, JUANTAX, as well as the mobile app of SSS.
All they have to do is choose “PayMaya” as the payment option and enter their registered mobile number to be able to pay their fees in the respective government agencies. After the transaction, they will receive a cashback voucher in the app equal to the transaction fee collected by the agency.
Don’t have PayMaya? Getting one is easy, all you have to do is download the PayMaya app for Android or iOS at https://official.paymaya.com/CAK1/425eb133 and register an account.