Maya and Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI) teamed up to provide tools for digital payments and credit to more than 200,000 distributors and sari-sari stores.

Maya, a prominent digital bank in the country and part of the PLDT-Smart Group, will integrate its financial solutions into PCPPI’s Distributor Management System.

PCPPI president and chief executive officer Phyo Phyu Noe said the system integration will ease payment collection and financing for working capital and inventory among retailers.

AI deployed

Using artificial intelligence, Maya said it can also determine the credit scores of beverage distributors and sari-sari store owners more accurately based on their real-time financial data.

“By simplifying collections and improving access to financing through our digital banking platform, we’re helping them run their businesses more efficiently and grow with confidence in an increasingly digital world,” Maya Group president and Maya Bank co-founder Shailesh Baidwan said.

Maya head for retail and micro, small and medium enterprises Renan Santiago said 70 to 80 percent of Filipino MSMEs lack financing.

Credit score for loans

“Deposits in Maya Bank create your credit score for loans. You can build your transactions using the Maya app and engage in its ecosystem where digital payments are used to further obtain business capital amid the growing use of e-wallets in the country,” he said.

Santiago said loan amounts have been expanded up to P2 million under the Maya SME Flexi Loan. This allows business owners to receive credit within three months as long as they are using its 1-2-3 Grow Bundle for business payments, loans and deposits.

The Asian Preparedness Partnership, a multi-stakeholder regional partnership, says there are over 1 million sari-sari stores in the Philippines from which 94 percent of Filipinos purchase their daily items or fast-moving consumer goods.