BayaniPay, a global payments solution platform, on Wednesday bared expanding its seed fund to $6.6 million from existing investors to help cement its status as a powerhouse cross-border fintech company.
Existing investors Talino Ventures and PTGB led the additional funding round with $2.1 million, bringing the total seed round to $6.6 million to date.
BayaniPay previously raised $4.5 million in seed funds, allowing it to scale its product features and explore new territories.
“We decided to expand our seed round to support our faster-than anticipated growth,” Winston Damarillo, chief executive at BayaniPay, told reporters.
“We are grateful to our existing investors for providing BayaniPay additional funding, which will help us to further expand our services and reach more overseas Filipinos in other parts of the world,” he added.
In the first semester this year, BayaniPay reported transaction value averaging some P100 million a month from only P30.64 million last year.
“For full year 2023, BayaniPay targets to reach P1 billion in total transaction value,” Damarillo said.
According to him, the enterprise is on track to meet this milestone as they continue to acquire more customers.
Damarillo said the demand for BayaniPay continues to grow as more and more Filipinos see the value and benefit of convenience that allows them to enjoy zero fees and competitive foreign exchange rates.
Early this year, BayaniPay, in partnership with BDO Remit USA, launched its Buena Mano Rate program of $1 = P60 forex rate for first-time remitters, which exponentially increased BayaniPay’s customer acquisition.
The Buena Mano Rate program is applicable up to $500 of every first remittance or first remittance in six months.
Later this year the business plans introducing a loyalty program for active users extending preferential forex rates as incentive.
in the first six months of 2023, BayaniPay reported a 36-percent growth in new users. It also strengthened its partnership with other institutions to further expand its portfolio of services.
At present, the company has a user base of 18,000.
With the additional funding, BayaniPay plans to bankroll new projects, such as the development of a rewards system and planned expansion in North America where a huge population of Filipinos reside.
In 2021, Filipino immigrants in Canada numbered almost one million, while Filipino immigrants in the United States was around 2 million or 4 percent of over 45.3 million immigrants in the US.
“We aim to sustain this momentum and explore new territories. Our commitment towards improving and growing our platform is driven by the desire to make the lives of Filipinos easier, wherever they may be found,” Damarillo said.
BayaniPay caters to customers in California, Hawaii, New Jersey and Alaska by allowing them to remit funds to their loved ones and make direct payments to service providers in the Philippines. Its platform is powered by features that allow customers to access a digital checking account, a debit card that maximizes their spending power, zero fee remittance fees, and market-leading forex rates.
“Not only has BayaniPay created intuitive solutions to make Filipinos’ payment journey a simple and cost-effective exercise, but we have also significantly contributed to solving the problems of existing remittance and bills payment methods for overseas Filipinos.
“Aside from benefiting our own customers, we also want to contribute to the overall economic growth of the Philippines by encouraging reinvestments in the Philippines,” Damarillo said.
