Visa, a digital payments processor, has expanded its consumer offerings in the Philippines by forging partnerships with different e-wallet platforms.
Visa aims to provide cardholders with enhanced flexibility in their payment methods, allowing them to use their cards directly with merchants or fund their e-wallets through services like Maya and GrabPay.
Recent data from Visa highlights a significant trend in the Philippines, where 87% of respondents in a survey reported using mobile wallets within the past year.
“Our collaboration with e-wallets in the Philippines allows Visa cardholders to seamlessly fund their wallets using locally issued cards, reflecting the increasing adoption of digital payment methods,” said Jeff Navarro, country manager for the Philippines at Visa.
The new partnerships aim to provide consumers with greater choice while supporting small businesses by enhancing their ability to accept digital payments. Visa’s initiative keeps pace with the rising use of mobile wallets and cards, which are becoming integral to the country’s payment landscape.
New features
Starting May 1, 2024, Visa cardholders in the Philippines can enjoy fee-free cash-ins to their Maya wallets as part of the “Cash-In for Free” program. This offer is available during the promotional period to all Maya users with local mobile numbers.
GrabPay users can continue to fund their wallets for free using Visa debit, credit, or prepaid cards. GrabPay users can set up automatic reloads, ensuring a seamless payment experience by replenishing wallet balances once they drop below a specified threshold.
These developments are backed by earlier Visa research, which showed that during the first half of 2023, 1 in 3 respondents applied for a new card, with 43% wanting to integrate these cards into mobile wallets. This trend underscores the growing convergence of cards and digital wallets in the country.
Further insights from Visa’s Green Shoots Radar survey indicate that while most payments are made from existing e-wallet balances, a significant proportion of consumers in Southeast Asia use their Visa cards as a source of mobile wallet funding. In Indonesia, 29% of surveyed consumers used their cards for this purpose, followed by 24% in the Philippines, and 39% in Vietnam. Convenience, expense tracking, seamless transactions, and security were the top reasons cited by respondents for using cards to top up their e-wallets.