# paymaya > Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/paymaya > extracted at 2026-10-03 > Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards ## Overview **Maya** (formerly **PayMaya**) is a **Philippine financial-services brand** offering digital payments, banking, crypto, and lending under one mobile app. It is operated by **Voyager Innovations, Inc.**, a PLDT-controlled holding company, through two BSP-regulated subsidiaries: - **Maya Philippines, Inc. (MPi)** — end-to-end digital payments (wallet, business, remittance) - **Maya Bank, Inc. (MBi)** — digital banking (savings, loans, credit cards) Maya is the **second-largest e-wallet in the Philippines** by registered users, behind **GCash** (Mynt / Globe) [1][1]. As of mid-2025, Maya had **over 60 million registered users** across its platforms [1][1], while Maya Bank reported **PHP 25 billion in deposits from 2.3 million clients** as of August 2023, making it the largest digital bank in the country by deposit share (61 %) [1][1]. Maya uses **QR Ph** — the Philippines' national unified QR standard — for both P2P and P2M payments, making it interoperable with all participating banks and e-wallets [1][1], [2][2]. ### Key facts | Attribute | Value | |---|---| | Former name | PayMaya (2016–2022), Smart Money (2000–2016) | | Parent | Voyager Innovations, Inc. (PLDT-controlled) | | Chairman | Manny V. Pangilinan | | CEO | Orlando Vea (Maya Group) | | HQ | Mandaluyong, Metro Manila | | Registered users | 60M+ (2025 estimate) | | QR standard | QR Ph (EMVCo MPM) | | Banking partner cards | Mastercard (Maya debit), Visa (online checkout) | | Valuation | ~USD 1.4 billion (April 2022 Series C) | ## History ### Smart Money (2000–2016) The ancestry of Maya dates to **December 2000** when **Smart Communications** (PLDT's mobile subsidiary) launched **Smart Money** in cooperation with **1st e-Bank** (formerly PDCP Bank; now merged into BDO Unibank) and **Mastercard** [2][2]. It was billed as the **world's first card-linked wireless phone payment** system at the time [2][2]. ### PayMaya era (2016–2022) In **January 2016**, the service was **rebranded as PayMaya** and by Q1 2016 had processed **USD 1 billion in cumulative transactions** [3][3]. The rebrand was part of a broader strategy to separate the wallet from Smart Communications and operate it under **Voyager Innovation, Inc.** — a PLDT subsidiary spun off to manage fintech assets [4][4]. Over the PayMaya years, the platform grew steadily: - **2018** — 33 million registered users [4][4] - **December 2020** — 40 million registered users [4][4] - **December 2021** — 44 million registered users [4][4] The PayMaya brand earned recognition during this period: - **2021 Payment Association Awards** — Leading Emerging Payments Organization Award + Most Innovative Mobile/Financial Service [4][4] - **2021 Future Enterprise Awards** (IDC) — Best in Future of Digital Innovations (PayMaya Negosyo) and Best in Future of Intelligence (in-app KYC) [4][4] - **2021 Future Digital Awards for Fintech & Payments** (Juniper Research) — Best QR Payment [4][4] - **2021 LinkedIn Talent Awards** — Best Talent Acquisition Team [4][4] ### Maya era (2022–present) In **April 2022**, PLDT (which controlled majority ownership of Voyager Innovations) announced that PayMaya would be rebranded as **Maya**, coinciding with the launch of **Maya Bank** — a fully-fledged digital bank affiliate [5][5]. The rebranding took effect on **May 2, 2022** [6][6]. **Maya Bank, Inc.** (MBi) was incorporated in 2021 and received its BSP license to operate as a universal/digital bank [7][7]. Maya Savings launched in early 2022 with an introductory **6 % p.a.** interest rate for early-bird registrants, later settling at **4.5 % p.a.** [8][8]. In October 2022, MBi announced **1 million registered customers and PHP 10 billion in deposits** within five months of launch [9][9]. By August 2023, Maya Bank reported **PHP 25 billion in deposits from 2.3 million clients** — making it the #1 digital bank in the Philippines by deposit share (61 %) and depositor share (71 %) [9][9]. **Funding and valuation**: - **April 2022** — Voyager Innovations raised **USD 210 million** in a Series C round led by **SIG Venture Capital** (SIG's Asian arm), with participation from **EDBI** (Singapore), **First Pacific**, and existing shareholders **PLDT**, **KKR**, **Tencent**, and **IFC** [4][4]. This put Voyager's valuation at approximately **USD 1.4 billion** (unicorn-plus) [4][4]. **Product evolution**: - **Maya Wallet** — core P2P/P2M payments, bills payment, load purchase, crypto trading - **Maya Business** (formerly PayMaya Enterprise) — merchant acquiring and business banking - **Maya Center** (formerly Smart Padala) — network of 55,000+ agent touchpoints for last-mile financial access - **Maya Savings** — retail savings via Maya Bank (4.5 % p.a.) - **Maya Loans** — Pay in 4 (BNPL), Flexi Loan, Personal Loan; PHP 10B+ lent between April 2022–June 2023 - **Maya Crypto** — buy/sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Uniswap - **Maya Cards** — Mastercard debit (physical + virtual), Visa for online checkout - **Maya Black** (credit card) — premium co-branded credit card via Maya Bank - **Maya Funds** — mutual fund investments - **Maya Stocks** — stock brokerage (philtstock integration) - **Maya Insurance** — e-commerce buyer protection, personal health, device insurance - **BeetzePlay** (January 2025) — exclusive streaming network for short-form vertical dramas In **2022**, Maya was selected by **CB Insights** as one of the **Fintech 250** — only the second Philippine fintech to enter the list alongside Tonik [4][4]. In **2023**, the Maya app was named among the **world's most innovative apps for digital life** at the Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona [4][4]. Maya Bank was named **Best Digital Bank for Southeast Asia** at the World Digital Bank (WDB) Awards 2023 and ranked **8th globally** by The Digital Banker [4][4]. Maya was ranked by **Forbes** among the World's Best Banks in both **2023 and 2024** [4][4]. ## Technical features ### Account structure and tiers Maya operates a **multi-tier KYC account system** under BSP's e-money issuer framework [10][10]: | Tier | Monthly wallet limit | Key capabilities | |---|---|---| | **Basic** | PHP 50,000 | Scan QR to pay, send/receive, buy load, OTC cash-in, BancNet ATM withdrawals, free buyer insurance (PHP 8K claim) | | **Upgraded** | PHP 100,000 | All Basic + higher send/transfer limits, video KYC + valid ID + verified address | | **Super** | PHP 500,000 | Unlimited purchase amount, ATM 60x/day, send PHP 500K/day, bank transfer PHP 500K/month | | **Ultimate** | PHP 5,000,000 | Unlimited everything, PHP 5M daily send/purchase/ATM | Requirements for upgrading: video selfie, valid ID, verified address, and verified personal information [10][10]. ### QR Ph integration Maya is a **full participant in QR Ph**, supporting both variants: - **QR Ph P2P** — person-to-person transfers via InstaPay rails - **QR Ph P2M** — person-to-merchant payments using the red-blue-yellow QR Ph logo Maya's QR Ph integration means a Maya user can scan any QR Ph code from any participating institution (GCash, BDO, BPI, UnionBank, etc.) and vice versa [2][2]. QR Ph is **EMVCo MPM-compliant** with the Philippine-specific merchant account information template [2][2]. ### Payment rails | Feature | Detail | |---|---| | **QR payments** | QR Ph (EMVCo MPM TLV) — both P2P and P2M | | **Bank transfers** | InstaPay (real-time, PHP 50K per transaction, 24/7) + PESONet (batch, higher limits) | | **Card network** | Mastercard (debit, physical + virtual), Visa (online checkout) | | **Crypto** | Buy/sell BTC, ETH, ADA, UNI in-app | | **Remittance** | Western Union partner via Maya Center (55,000+ agents); OFW remittances | | **Cash-in** | Card-based (Mastercard/Visa via Maya app), bank transfer, OTC partners (BPI, Metrobank, etc.), non-bank partners (PHP 50K/txn) | | **Cash-out** | BancNet ATM withdrawals, bank transfer | ### Cards - **Mastercard debit card** (physical and virtual) — powered by Maya Philippines, Inc. for wallet transactions - **Visa card** for online checkout at e-commerce partners - **Maya Black** — premium credit card issued by Maya Bank, Inc. ### Business features - **Maya Business** (formerly PayMaya Enterprise) — merchant onboarding, QR Ph acceptance, payroll management - **Enterprise deposit** and **working capital loans** for MSMEs - **Corporate credit products** for employees of large corporate clients ## QR format Maya uses **QR Ph** for all QR-code payments, which is the **Philippines' national unified QR standard**: | Attribute | Value | |---|---| | **Standard** | QR Ph (BSP Circular 1055, October 2019) | | **EMVCo alignment** | MPM (Merchant-Presented Mode) TLV format | | **Underlying rail** | InstaPay (real-time) | | **Transaction limit** | PHP 50,000 per transaction (InstaPay limit) | | **Operators** | All banks + e-wallets (BDO, BPI, UnionBank, GCash, Maya, etc.) | | **Logo** | Red-blue-yellow (Philippine flag colours) for P2M; InstaPay logo for P2P | | **Symbology** | QR Code (ISO/IEC 18004) | | **Payload** | EMVCo MPM TLV with Philippine merchant account information template + CRC-16 | Maya's QR Ph implementation is identical in payload structure to other QR Ph participants — the distinction is purely at the issuer/merchant-account level. This ensures full interoperability: a Maya user scanning a GCash QR or a BPI merchant QR produces the same EMVCo MPM payload format as any other QR Ph participant [2][2]. See the dedicated [QR Ph standard page](https://docs.barcoder.ai/standards/qr-ph) for full technical specification. ## Deployment ### Consumer base - **60M+ registered users** (2025 estimate; Maya reached 50M by June 2022) [4][4] - Maya is the **second-largest e-wallet** in the Philippines after GCash (60M+ users) [1][1] - **2.3 million** Maya Bank savings clients (August 2023) - **55,000+ Maya Center** agent touchpoints nationwide — the largest agent network for last-mile financial access [1][1] ### Merchant adoption - Maya Business onboards merchants for QR Ph acceptance - Maya's QR Ph codes accepted at millions of retail locations nationwide - Partners with major e-commerce platforms for online checkout - HitPay and other PSPs offer QR Ph via Maya Business integration [2][2] ### International partnerships - **Mastercard** — co-branded debit card - **Visa** — online checkout integration - **Western Union** — remittance via Maya Center - **Tencent** — investor (via Voyager Innovations Series C) - **IFC** (World Bank Group) — investor ### Government and regulatory - Maya is a **fintech partner** in government disbursement programmes - OFW remittance programmes utilise Maya's platform - BSP Digital Payments Target beneficiary ## Regulatory Maya operates under a **dual-regulation model** under the **Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)**: 1. **Maya Philippines, Inc. (MPi)** — regulated as an **e-money issuer** under BSP regulations on electronic money. MPi holds the BSP license to issue e-wallet accounts, process payments, and operate as a payment service provider. 2. **Maya Bank, Inc. (MBi)** — regulated as a **digital bank** under BSP's regulatory framework for universal/commercial banks. MBi received its BSP license in 2021–2022 and offers deposit-taking, lending, and credit card services. **Key regulatory frameworks**: - **BSP National Retail Payment System (NRPS) Framework** — under which QR Ph was established - **BSP Circular 1055** (October 2019) — QR Ph establishment - **BSP Anti-Money Laundering Act** compliance — AMLA requirements for KYC, transaction monitoring, and suspicious-activity reporting - **BSP data privacy and cybersecurity** requirements for digital banks and e-money issuers - **National Privacy Commission** — Maya won Privacy Initiative of the Year (#FraudPatrol campaign) and Privacy Management of the Year (Maya Bank) at the 2022 Privacy Awareness Week Awards [4][4] **Account limits** are set by BSP regulations on e-money issuers, with tiered KYC requirements (Basic → Upgraded → Super → Ultimate) that scale wallet balances and transaction limits accordingly [10][10]. ## Comparison ### vs. GCash (Mynt / Globe) | Attribute | Maya (PayMaya) | GCash (Mynt) | |---|---|---| | Parent | Voyager Innovations (PLDT) | Mynt (Globe/Tencent/SoftBank) | | Users | 60M+ | 60M+ | | Bank affiliate | Maya Bank, Inc. (digital bank) | GCash Savings (via partner banks) | | QR standard | QR Ph | QR Ph | | Crypto | Yes (BTC, ETH, ADA, UNI) | Yes (GCrypto) | | Cards | Mastercard + Visa | GCash Mastercard | | Agent network | 55,000+ Maya Centers | GCash 24/7, partner stores | | Valuation | ~USD 1.4B (2022) | ~USD 5B+ (reported, 2025) | GCash holds a structural advantage through its bundling with **Globe Telecom**, which subsidises customer acquisition. Maya's advantage lies in its **dual-entity structure** (separate bank + payments company) and broader enterprise product range (Maya Business, Maya Center agent network). ### vs. other ASEAN e-wallets Maya follows the **dual-ecosystem model** (wallet + digital bank) pioneered by Indonesia's GoPay/Gojek and seen in Malaysia's Touch 'n Go. Its **crypto integration** (buy/sell within the wallet) aligns it with regional peers like TrueMoney (Thailand) and Touch 'n Go (Malaysia). The **55,000-agent network** (formerly Smart Padala) is unique among Philippine e-wallets and provides a physical distribution advantage over purely-digital competitors. ### vs. bank digital channels Maya competes with **BDO Digital**, **BPI Mobile**, **UnionBank Online**, and other bank-led digital channels. However, Maya's advantage is its **e-wallet simplicity** (no bank account required, instant onboarding via phone number) and its **cross-bank interoperability** via QR Ph — users don't need to be customers of a specific bank. ## Status **Active, growing, expanding** — Maya continues to grow its user base and product range: - **60M+ registered users** — stable second position behind GCash - **PHP 25B deposits** at Maya Bank (August 2023) — #1 digital bank by deposit share - **QR Ph participant** — full P2P + P2M interoperability - **CB Insights Fintech 250** — recognised among world's most promising fintechs - **Forbes World's Best Banks** 2023 and 2024 - **WDB Awards 2023** — Best Digital Bank for Southeast Asia - **Project Nexus** — Philippines is a founding member; Maya will benefit from cross-border QR interoperability with Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and India **Strategic outlook**: - Maya Bank continues to scale deposits and loan book - Maya Center agent network expanding beyond Metro Manila - Maya's dual-entity structure (payments + bank) positions it for regulatory changes in digital banking - Cross-border expansion potential via Project Nexus and InstaPay-PayNow linkage - Crypto trading integration may expand as BSP refines crypto regulation - Competition with GCash intensifies as both platforms add banking, investments, and credit products No deprecation planned. Maya is a **core Philippine fintech platform** with a clear multi-year growth trajectory. ## Sources [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_(mobile_payments) [2]: https://www.maya.ph/business/stories/7-questions-about-the-national-qr-code-standard-qr-ph-answered [3]: https://www.theasianbanker.com/updates-and-articles/paymaya-serves-the-unbanked-in-the-philippines-through-the-mobile-app [4]: https://www.yugatech.com/news/voyager-innovations-raises-usd-210m-to-expand-paymaya-services-launch-maya-bank/ [5]: https://www.abs-cbn.com/business/04/29/22/paymaya-becomes-maya-ahead-of-launch-of-digital-bank [6]: https://mb.com.ph/2022/05/02/paymaya-rebrands-as-maya/ [7]: https://business.inquirer.net/341915/paymaya-affiliate-digital-bank-on-track-for-q1-launch [8]: https://www.mayabank.ph/savings/ [9]: https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/4/maya-hauls-in-p25-b-deposits [10]: https://www.maya.ph/account-limits [11]: https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Media_and_Research/Primers%20Faqs/QR_Ph_P2M_FAQs.pdf [12]: https://bilyonaryo.com/2022/08/07/maya-adds-nearly-3m-new-users-in-q2/ [13]: https://mb.com.ph/2022/10/07/maya-cited-among-most-promising-global-fintech-firms/ [14]: https://interaksyon.philstar.com/business/2023/08/02/257432/maya-hailed-southeast-asias-best-digital-bank/ [ph-cro]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/PH [qrph]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/standards/qr-ph ## Source Biography extracted from [paymaya.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/wallets/paymaya). See `matrix.md` for standards-support matrix if present.