BUZZ BEAT MEDIA

Los Angeles — A financial service for international professionals called BayaniPay has raised $4.5 million in seed money from Talino Venture Labs, Wavemaker Partners, and East West Bank.

BayaniPay successfully collaborated with East West Bank this year, the latter known as the biggest self-sufficient bank based in South California, so Filipino Americans can avail of financial services, which includes an insured Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) checking account. BayaniPay’s other list of collaborators which are key industry figures are the following: BDO Unibank, the biggest bank in the Philippines; Asian Journal, one of Asian American media’s movers; and Seafood City, the most expansive Filipino supermarket chain in the U.S.

BayaniPay’s partnership positions the company as the premiere cross-border, online monetary service for the Filipino American population of 4.2 million, making up 14.4% of United States’ Asian American market, and translating to $146 billion in revenue. Prior to this, the sub-group has been underserved by conventional banking set-up, as well as other economic establishments.

Ease, convenience, and affordability define BayaniPay’s cross-border banking system bridging United States and the Philippines.

BayaniPay offers easy, convenient, and low cost cross-border financial services from the United States to the Philippines. Consumers discover the ultimate way to maximize their spending power and send money home with zero fee. Its feature-rich platform offers Filipino Americans access to a digital checking account, a debit card, and market-leading forex rates – making it easier than ever to manage their finances.

BDO Unibank Powers the Diversification of International Resources

BayaniPay partners with BDO Unibank to bring more financial solutions to Filipinos America fast. It has also partnered with BDO Unibank to allow its US users to pay service providers in the Philippines directly using payment code technology. Local businesses and services can just give Filipino-American customers a payment code they can easily use for convenient cross-border bill, tuition fees, medical bills and even property payments.

By partnering with BayaniPay, BDO Unibank continues to find ways to offer convenience for professionals worldwide.

Going beyond limits with online financial services

In its first three months on the market, BayaniPay broke barriers in the digital remittance industry. With zero fees and market leading exchange rates with BDO Unibank, this new bank expansion allows customers to open digital bank accounts with Visa debit cards in the United States countries along the east-west coast – for faster, smoother cross-border payments, as well as rewards for customer transactions.

“On behalf of East West Bank, I applaud BayaniPay’s progress in using our digital banking technology to provide omnichannel banking as a service to underserved customers,” said Parker Shi, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of East West Bank. “This means that BayaniPay customers can enjoy the same quality of service, whether they’re banking with their mobile devices or transacting at their local East West Bank branch.”

Since the expansion announcement, BayaniPay has gained more than 7,000 users. The novel global banking concept has attracted attention from many digital publications, including Forbes and American Banker.

“We are excited about how quickly BayaniPay has grown since we first launched,” said BayaniPay CEO Winston Damarillo. “Our ongoing efforts are driven by the desire to eliminate the financial hardships of new immigrants and minority communities.”

The new funding from East West Bank and Wavemaker Partners will allow BayaniPay to expand, with the company diversifying its product line and branching out into more areas inside and outside United States.

“Streamlining cross border payment systems have become more urgent than ever as remittances grow in scale from overseas workers. Unfortunately, even in this day and age, existing remittance methods remain painful and expensive for the average remitter. BayaniPay is addressing this pain point with their suite of payment solutions that simplifies the various types of remittances. Whether the need is peer-to-peer, consumer-to-business or business-to-business, BayaniPay has created intuitive solutions to make this payment journey a simple and cost effective exercise,” said Eric Manlunas, Founder and Managing Partner of Wavemaker Partners.

*Cover Photo/Thumbnail Photo from BayaniPay official Facebook page