Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 28) — PLDT’s Voyager Innovations is flooded with new capital amounting to $167 million, fuelling further the expansion of its financial technology arm PayMaya to take advantage of the digital boom amid the pandemic.
The group also welcomed new investor IFC Financial Institutions Growth Fund, a member of the World Bank Group.
“Voyager is now leveraging this unique ecosystem to expand into digital banking for the next phase of its mission to improve financial inclusion in the Philippines,” PLDT said in a disclosure on Monday.
The technology firm hopes to secure a digital bank license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Orlando B. Vea, Voyager and PayMaya chief executive and founder, said the group witnessed “a quantum leap for digital payments adoption in the Philippines over the past year” as its PayMaya mobile wallet and Smart Padala saw registered users double in 18 months to 38 million.
“This investment supports the unique value we bring and gives us a natural head start with the target market for the digital banking service,” Vea said.
Shares of PLDT in the Philippine Stock Exchange fell 0.23% or ₱3 to finish at ₱1,285 each on Monday.
Shareholders PLDT, global investment firm KKR, and Chinese tech giant Tencent participated in the funding — raising $121 million in fresh investments and $46 million from previously committed funds.
