Philippines-Based Mobile Wallet PayMaya Rebrands as ‘Maya’

PayMaya, a FinTech based in the Philippines, is rebranding as “Maya” as it expands its services to include the digital banking and crypto trading feature that is part of its app.

“Today, we are not just launching a brand, app, and digital bank. We are unleashing the power of financial technology to benefit all Filipinos,” PayMaya CEO and founder Orlando Vea said, as quoted in a report Friday (April 29) by GMA News. “We are here to democratize digital financial services.”

See also: Voyager Innovations Raises $210M, Becomes Unicorn

Meanwhile, Maya has also launched its digital bank Maya Bank, six months after it received a digital banking license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The Maya Bank feature lets customers open a savings account with a 6% introductory interest rate, and access credit of up to 15,000 Philippine pesos ($2,865).

The platform also offers a crypto feature that lets users buy, sell and hold crypto for as low as one peso.

As PayMaya has both electronic money issuer (EMI) and virtual asset services provider (VASP) licenses, company President Shailesh Baidwan has called the crypto launch “a big step up in making crypto accessible to every Filipino,” adding that “being at the forefront of digital payments and financial services, expanding into crypto is part of our roadmap as we build the Philippines’ most accessible end-to-end money platform.”

These features are included alongside Maya’s legacy eWallet offerings such as money transfers and merchant and bill payments.

Learn more: Philippines Shows Promise of Crypto Payments in Developing Countries

The rebranding of PayMaya into Maya comes soon after a $210 million funding round by Voyager Innovations, Maya’s parent company.

As PYMNTS reported recently, that round valued Voyager at $1.4 billion and surpassed the $200 million the company was rumored to be aiming for earlier this year.

“The Maya brand represents the next stage of financial services in the Philippines,” Maya Bank president Angelo Madrid said. “With Maya, we will accelerate financial inclusion in the country as we provide more Filipinos with meaningful products and services that will improve their access to savings and productive capital.”