Citi partners with Bayad Center

The service will soon be made available in other currencies to Filipinos around the world.

Bayad Center president and CEO Manuel Tuason (3rd from left) and Citi Philippines CEO Aftab Ahmed (3rd from right) lead the signing ceremony and are joined by (from left) Bayad Center Fintech business group COO Lawrence Ferrer, Bayad Center SVP and COO Francispito Quevedo, country treasurer and head of markets and securities services Paul Favila and Citi Philippines treasury and trade solutions head Arlene Nethercott.

Filipinos working overseas can now pay bills in the Philippines via their mobile phones. CIS Bayad Center Inc., the country’s market leader in outsourced payment collection and Citi Philippines, the country’s largest global bank, have partnered to deliver a multi-currency payment solution to overseas Filipino workers (OFW) through the Bayad Center mobile app and Citi’s InstantFX solution.

A first in the Philippines, the new feature allows kababayans to pay peso-denominated bills online in the currency of their choice, initially covering Singapore dollars (SGD), Hong Kong dollars (HKD) and Japanese yen (JPY). With just a few clicks, Bayad Center mobile app users can conveniently make payments to merchants in the Philippines, such as settling utility bills on behalf of their families.

“This enhancement further strengthens Bayad Center’s position as a first mover in the industry by enabling local merchants to expand their reach to our global Filipino community while also lessening occurrences of late payments,” said Bayad Center president and CEO Manuel Tuason.

With this solution, OFW are able to determine the foreign currency (Singapore Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar or Japanese Yen) equivalent of their bill at the time of payment, thereby reducing foreign exchange risk. In addition, beneficiaries of OFW do not need to physically collect funds from remittance centers and visit biller offices to settle household-related bills.

“We are delighted at having forged a partnership with Bayad Center to have the joint goal of making it convenient for Filipino OFWs to pay their bills in the Philippines,” said Citi Philippines CEO Aftab Ahmed.

The multi-currency feature is powered by Citi’s InstantFX, which supports over 70 currencies and is widely used by companies in various industries, including airlines, online travel agencies, payment service providers, and online marketplaces.

Following this initial phase, the service will soon be made available in other currencies to Filipinos around the world.

A wide range of local merchants are participating in this service, including various government agencies, as well as electricity, water, cable/Internet, telecommunications, education, insurance, airline, real estate and retail companies.