As the whole country adapts to changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, many enterprising Filipinos are turning their entrepreneurship drive into full-fledged businesses, utilizing the power of social media and cashless payments technologies.
To help accelerate the growth of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) all around the country, digital financial services leader PayMaya launched its PayMaya Negosyo “Bizkarte” Program which aims to provide MSMEs with the right tools, assistance, and resources to help their businesses thrive in the growing world of digital commerce.
A play on the words “business” and diskarte–which describes the uniquely Filipino trait of being enterprising despite the seemingly insurmountable odds–the “Bizkarte” program for MSMEs offers PayMaya’s end-to-end digital payment solutions bundled with incentives through exclusive promotions and rewards for merchants and their customers, co-marketing push for members’ products and services, as well as online trainings on entrepreneurial and digital skills to help partners grow their businesses in the eCommerce space.
“Filipinos are innately ma-diskarte and we’ve seen this enterprising spirit rise above the challenges we’ve all faced in the past months due to COVID-19. On top of this, our entrepreneurs are already tech-savvy and familiar with digital platforms,” said Raymund Villanueva, Head of PayMaya QR Ecosystems. “Now that they’ve established their homegrown businesses, PayMaya Negosyo’s ‘Bizkarte’ program will help them accelerate their business in this new economy.”
To sign up for the Bizkarte program, entrepreneurs and MSMEs only need to download and register for an account through the PayMaya Negosyo app (http://pymy.co/PayMayaNegosyo) and sign up for the program through the Bizkarte website at http://pymy.co/bizkarte.
Thriving online businesses in the ‘new normal’
Upon signing up, Bizkarte program members will instantly have access to the Bizkarte Negosyante Kit, which will contain social media templates and how-tos that they can use to help promote cashless payments for orders through their Facebook or Instagram pages, via email, or through chat apps.
They will also get the chance to promote their products and services to millions of PayMaya users across the country on PayMaya-owned channels including the PayMaya app, website, and social media accounts. Their customers who pay using PayMaya, meanwhile, can enjoy exclusive perks of up to 100% Balik Bayad when they #ScanToPay via PayMaya QR.
And to help give additional boost in growing their business, Bizkarte members can also get access to free webinars featuring key industry leaders who can share useful knowledge and insights about the ins and outs of running and growing their business.
“We hope that through this program, we can help turn casual online sellers into full-fledged negosyantes who can rely on their home-based businesses for income even after the crisis over,” Villanueva said.
Through the PayMaya Negosyo app, MSMEs can easily expand their business to go digital by accepting cashless payments online and offline through PayMaya QR, via bank transfers through InstaPay, or through the Send Money function of the PayMaya app. This allows business owners to continue serving their customers online, helping reduce the further spread of COVID-19, and in-stores, once they are ready to get back to a physical set-up.
Apart from these, PayMaya Negosyo offers entrepreneurs more ways to earn money by selling mobile prepaid load and other digital goods available in the app. Soon, they will also be able to accept bill payments and remittances (with proper documentary requirements) through PayMaya Negosyo.
PayMaya is the only end-to-end digital payments ecosystem enabler in the Philippines with platforms and services that cut across consumers, merchants, and government. Aside from providing payments acceptance for the largest e-Commerce, food, retail and gas merchants in the Philippines, PayMaya enables national and social services agencies as well as local government units with digital payments and disbursement services.
Through its app and wallet, PayMaya provides millions of Filipinos with the fastest way to own a financial account with over 40,000 Add Money touchpoints nationwide, more than double the total number of traditional bank branches in the Philippines combined. Its Smart Padala by PayMaya network of over 30,000 partner touchpoints nationwide serves as last mile digital financial hubs in communities, providing the unbanked and underserved with access to services.