New Fil-Am fintech firm offering easier US-PH money transactions

BayaniPay CEO Winston Damarillo explaining services during a press event. HANDOUT

LOS ANGELES – A Filipino American fintech company is now offering “easy, convenient, and low cost cross-border financial services from the United States to the Philippines” including no-fee remittances.

BayaniPay, a “financial service for global professionals,” announced that its multi-feature platform offers zero-fee remittance and market-leading foreign exchange rates for Filipino Americans sending money home, as well as access to a digital checking account and a debit card.

A collaboration with BDO Unibank enables BayaniPay users in the U.S. to directly pay services in the Philippines through paycode technologies. The collaboration positions BayaniPay as the first cross-border, digital financial service for the 4.2-million Filipino American community. With BDO Unibank, BayaniPay will deliver more financial solutions to Filipinos in the U.S. soon.

Earlier this year, BayaniPay contracted with East West Bank, the largest independent bank headquartered in Southern California, to offer Filipino American customers banking services, including a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured checking account. East West Bank provides frictionless cross-border payments and rewards on customer transactions.

East West Bank joins BDO Unibank, the Philippines’ largest bank; Asian Journal, one of the leaders in the Asian American media industry; and Seafood City, the largest Filipino-owned supermarket chain in the U.S., in BayaniPay’s roster of industry-leading collaborators.

Local businesses and services can simply provide Filipino American customers paycodes that they can use for easy and convenient cross-border payment of bills, tuition and school fees, medical expenses, and even real estate.

The fintech company said it has raised $4.5 million in seed funding from East West Bank, Wavemaker Partners and Talino Venture Labs.

“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.”

Since announcing its expansion, BayaniPay has gained over 7,000 users and has caught the attention of many digital publications, including Forbes and American Banker.

“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.”

The fresh capital from East West Bank and Wavemaker Partners will allow BayaniPay to expand the technology team as the company scales its product lineup and expands into more geographies.

“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.