Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) serve as the lifeblood of the Philippine economy, contributing significantly to its growth and development.
Based on a report by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, OFWs’ remittances amounted to approximately $37.2 billion in 2023, accounting for 8.5 percent of the country’s national economic growth.
Their remittances contribute to the Philippine economy by boosting domestic consumption and investment. The increased purchasing power of families allows them to spend more on goods and services, stimulating economic activity.
Additionally, OFWs often invest their earnings in real estate, businesses and other productive assets, contributing to job creation and economic growth.
Data from the state-run Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the country’s real estate market saw a boom in activity in the last couple of years, establishing its value of P1 trillion as of 2019.
Meanwhile, the World Bank reported that overseas Filipinos are allocating as much as 60 percent of their remittances to property investments in the country.
Thus, Filipino-owned financial technology firm BayaniPay partnered with SM Development Corp. and Ortigas Land Corp., to pioneer the real estate category of Bills Pay so they can start collecting, automating, and reconciling payments with ease through a custom dashboard.
Backed by a fresh capital of approximately P175 million, BayaniPay developed new services to widen its international footprint and enable more OFWs to seamlessly invest locally, particularly in real estate.
BayaniPay chief executive officer Winston Damarillo said the newly developed Bayani GlobalPay is an embedded banking service designed to allow businesses and major billing entities to reach their customers on a global scale.
Damarillo noted that expanding the firm’s services globally will also support its goal of capping the year with roughly P11.7 billion in payments processed.
“Selling is the easy part for us, but what we want to focus on is what’s called customer success. We want to make sure that people that use our product can use it successfully,” Damarillo said.
“We want Filipinos to invest in their long-term future towards their retirement in real estate back in the Philippines. Real estate is just one. I think we can expand that to other areas where global Filipinos can continue to invest back home,” he added.
The Bayani GlobalPay features two embedded banking solutions: GlobalPay, a white-label service that provides non-financial institutions with a custom payment platform, and GlobalPay Express, an all-in-one payment portal for payment management.
Institutions may choose between these two solutions based on their needs and requirements.
Bayani GlobalPay utilizes payment gateways and payment automation technologies to reduce manual processes and provide seamless management and tracking of domestic and international payments.
The new service allows payment methods including debit and credit cards, e-wallet, direct debit, as well as QRPH, which eliminates the need for a bank account to be able to pay or send money.
BayaniPay aims to augment the economic impact of cross-border direct payments by making it frictionless and cost-effective, which helps Filipinos overseas save on fees and add more pesos to every dollar they send.