US-based Filipinos can now easily pay amortisations in Philippines

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MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): Filipinos in the United States can now directly settle their monthly amortisations in the Philippines for free after financial technology (fintech) company BayaniPay launched a new bills payment service.

BayaniPay chief executive officer Winston Damarillo, in a briefing in Makati City on Wednesday, said there was great demand for such service given that a substantial portion of remittances go into property investments.

“We see huge potential in this highly untapped market, which is marked by several barriers for overseas Filipinos,” he said.

The fintech player teamed up with BDO Unibank Inc. to offer the bills payment service. It also partnered with property developers SM Development Corp. and Ortigas Land Corp., but Damarillo hinted there would be more partnerships soon.

“These partnerships allow us to plug the gap in cross-border payments for the real estate investment market worth P1 trillion,” the company official said.

The payment solution eliminates the need for a separate bank account as it can be linked with BDO. The real estate developers, meanwhile, are given the capability to collect, automate and reconcile payments via a custom dashboard.

Damarillo estimates that the monthly payment for amortization being facilitated per customer is US$350 to $2,000. Such amount was on top of the regular remittance of about $500 per month by each overseas worker, he added.

BayaniPay is a Filipino-owned fintech company based in Los Angeles. Last year, it raised $4.5 million in seed funding from East West Bank, Wavemaker Partners and Talino Venture Labs. INQ