Peppermint is continuing to build crucial partnerships in its target market of the Philippines, this time teaming up with a leading finance service provider.
Fintech company Peppermint Innovation (ASX:PIL) has signed a bill payment deal with PayMaya Philippines to make it easier for their bizmoto agents to top up or cash in to their bizmoto mobile wallets.
Under the agreement, bizmoto agents with a PayMaya account can transfer funds directly from their PayMaya account to their bizmoto wallet.
Alternatively, a bizmoto agent without a PayMaya account can go into any of PayMaya’s 55,000 ‘Smart Padala’ agents and pay them to digitally transfer cash to their bizmoto wallet.
PayMaya has 26 million registered users throughout the Philippines and a network of 55,000 ‘Smart Padala’ agents that serve as last-mile financial hubs in communities across the country.
Peppermint profits per payment
Peppermint will not charge a fee for this service to encourage ‘cash-in’ transactions to bizmoto wallet holders and, subsequently, to promote greater transactions across the bizmoto platform.
Peppermint will earn a system fee for each transaction made across the bizmoto platform. The system fee is not set and varies depending on the trading exchange used from a flat fee basis to a percentage of the transaction value.
At present, Peppermint earns up to 6% of the transaction value on most transactions across the bizmoto platform.
Growing partnerships in Philippines
Peppermint is continuing to build its foothold in its target market of the Philippines despite ongoing COVID-10 pandemic restrictions in the country. The company has established several key partnerships to fast-track its growth.
Under the deal the bizmoto service has become a merchant within the Dragonpay platform, giving Peppermint immediate and direct access to its massive network of banks, EMI-wallet providers, and remittance/payment centres to undertake cash-in, fund transfers and payments.
Furthermore, Peppermint is set to launch new integrated platforms in the next quarter as it awaits the approval of an electronic money license.
An EMI licence provides the opportunity for Peppermint to facilitate any e-money transaction in the Philippines, which could accelerate its capabilities in the digital transaction space, particularly when combined with the loans it can already make.
Changing lending landscape
The Filipino non-bank lending space is significantly changing, especially in the mobile app space where users have exploded as more people access non-bank loan finance through their mobiles.
About 86% of the population use their mobile phones to access the internet, giving immediate demand for mobile phone app-based lenders and lending programs.
Peppermint’s bizmoPay’s app allows Filipinos to receive a micro-loan paid to their bizmoto e-wallet, as well as providing them with a convenient and secure way to receive digital money and access digital services.
Peppermint’s Managing Director and CEO Chris Kain said the latest deal with PayMaya offers both digital and over-the-counter options for bizmoto agents to ‘top-up’ or cash-in’ to their bizmoto mobile wallet.
“For Peppermint, this is yet another step in trying to integrate and become completely interoperable with the payments landscape in the Philippines and, most importantly, make the process for our bizmoto agents to cash-in to their bizmoto wallet as frictionless and seamless as possible,” he said.
“Our aim is to have all the necessary technical and system integration complete to enable a first phase ‘go-live’ date in Q2 this year.
Kain said while the agreement is ‘one-way’ at present, it opens the possibilities for bizmoto and PayMaya to collaborate further and empower each other to achieve their corporate objectives.
This article was developed in collaboration with Peppermint Innovation, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.