SAN FRANCISCO – Digital payments company PayPal has announced its partnership with Philippines’ leading outsourced payment provider Bayad Center to enable overseas Filipinos to pay the utility bills of their loved ones online.
Customers can now access Bayad Center’s online platform to pay their electricity, water and phone bills through PayPal. This expands PayPal’s cross-border bill pay offering to the Philippines, which is also available through Xoom, a PayPal service.
An estimated 10.23 million Filipinos, or approximately 10 percent of the population, currently work overseas. Most of these workers send remittances back to the Philippines to help their families pay the bills. This is typically a complicated two-step process – first send money to Philippines, then ask the beneficiary to pick up the money transfer and use that cash to pay the biller. Loved ones in the Philippines would have to make trips to both the remittance center and a bill pay location to pay the bill.
With this partnership, overseas Filipinos now have a quicker, convenient, and more secure way of paying their loved ones’ bills. They are also assured that payments are posted to the specified account with the correct amount. To pay bills through Bayad Center, new customers will need to create a PayPal account and enroll a bank account, debit card or credit card as their payment source.
“I am really pleased to announce the partnership with Bayad Center. Bayad Center has always been a convenient tool for local Filipinos to pay their bills. With this partnership, PayPal is able to expand the reach of Bayad Center to a global user base and enable overseas Filipinos to pay their bills in a faster, simpler, and more secure way,” said Rahul Shinghal, general manager for PayPal Southeast Asia.
Francispito Quevedo, chief operating officer at PayMaya, adds, “This partnership will definitely enhance Bayad Center’s reach to overseas Filipinos overseas.”
PayPal also offers bill payment through its digital cross-border money transfer service Xoom, providing Filipino immigrants in the U.S. with more flexibility and choice. Xoom customers in the U.S. can pay PLDT or Smart postpaid mobile bills for their loved ones, and more billers are coming soon.
Through PayPal’s integration with Bayad, overseas Filipinos will also be able to pay bills for loved ones at more than 45 service providers. Providers accepting payment by PayPal through Bayad:
Cellular Phones
- Globe
- Smart
- Sun Cellular
Electricity
- Albay Power and Energy Corp. (APEC)
- Balamban Enerzone
- BATELEC I
- BATELEC II
- BENECO
- COTABATO Light (CLPC)
- Davao Light
- ILECO I
- INEC
- LEYECO II
- Mactan Enerzone
- MERALCO
- PANELCO I
- PANELCO III
- PELCO II
- Subic Enerzone
- TARELCO I
- TARELCO II
- VECO
Landline
- Bayan Phone
- Clarktel
- Digitel
- Globelines
- Maratel
- Piltel
- PLDT
- PT&T
- SubicTel
Water
- BP Waterworks, Inc.
- First Peak Resources
- Goodhands Water Specialist
- Happywell Management
- Laguna Water
- Manila Water
- Marwadis
- Maynilad
- MCWD
- Meycauayan Water
- Norzagaray Water District
- Prime Water
- San Jose Del Monte Water District
- Silang Water
- Southlink Water Works
- Sta. Maria Water District
- Subic Water