A recent round of fundraising for Voyager Innovations, the company behind Paymaya, the Philippines' most popular digital payments app, has resulted in the company being declared a unicorn and valued at more than $1 billion.

It was stated Tuesday that Voyager Innovation's value had risen to $1.4 billion after receiving a $210 million injection of financing. The new money will be utilized to expand the crypto options that PayMaya recently launched to its main digital payment platform.

It was reported in a press release that SIG Venture Capital was the lead investor in the current funding round. Consumers may now purchase, trade, and earn cryptocurrency using PayMaya. The funds will be put to good use in furthering the advancement of crypto products. Additionally, PayMaya has just been granted a VASP license by the Philippine Central Bank and it plans to use the funds to develop its line of digital bank products, including savings and credit.

Most Filipinos are "underserved" by the internet and digital money, according to Voyager. Taking advantage of this, the company plans to expand its market share. PayMaya presently has more than 47 million registered users. For those people who want to get the most out of the BTC trading process, Bitcode Prime made a tool that allows investors to buy and sell digital assets with the help of Artificial Intelligence. This is quite beneficial for those traders who don't have enough time to look at the screens 24/7. AI is here to automate the processes and make things more efficient and easier. 

Voyager and its counterpart Mynt have played a major role in the growth of the Philippines' digital economy during the last two years. By 2025, the Philippines' digital economy is expected to exceed $40 billion

As online commerce grows in the nation, more people will use cryptocurrencies. The central bank has often cautioned investors about potential dangers in the embryonic market.

Philippine Fintech Growing Tendency

For many Filipinos, the use of different financial tools to perform their everyday transactions goes back well before the COVID-19 epidemic even broke out. Cash is still king in the Philippines, particularly in rural areas and traditional enterprises, but the country continues to show enormous fintech potential because of reasons such as the "increasing use of e-commerce and financial technology to assist the unbanked". Fintech firms in the nation are increasing at an average yearly pace of 16 percent, according to data from the Department of Trade and Industry.

Basic e-wallet and digital banking applications are increasingly crucial in how Filipinos send and receive money, pay bills, donate, utilize credit, and many other things in the country's economy.

A jump in new users and daily transactions occurred as a result of the pandemic's impact on the Philippine population. GCash, a mobile money software, witnessed a 150% rise in registered users in only one month. Paymaya's user base rose as a result of the financial crisis, as more Filipinos began to embrace cashless payment options.

In addition to accepting payments online, many firms also utilized these applications to easily disperse employee paychecks.

Traditional banks and telecommunications firms in the nation have all implemented their fintech solutions to stay up with the financial industry's rapid evolution. Filipinos may create bank accounts from the comfort of their own homes thanks to banks like Unionbank, CIMB, ING, and Maybank. 

To promote financial inclusion throughout the country, they have been using cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, alternative data, blockchain, and others even before the outbreak of the epidemic.

What Are The Advantages Of Accepting Cryptos As A Payment?

In 2020, the most common payment method for fraudulent activity was using a credit or debit card. Because of this, small firms are typically the victims of this form of scam.

Compared to credit and debit card payments, cryptocurrency is seen as more secure. A customer's data is not kept in a central location where data breaches are widespread when they pay with bitcoin. Instead, their private keys are kept in a crypto wallet. Because every transaction is verified and recorded on the blockchain global ledger, stealing a person's identity is almost impossible.

Only the person who paid for the transaction may get their money back. If a business accepts Bitcoin, it should be prepared for the prospect of consumers asking for refunds and keeping an account of how much money each client has paid. Because of the irreversibility of bitcoin transactions, company owners can better control their cash flow. No chargebacks to worry about, and the retailer must personally pay back everyone who wants a refund. As a result, your staff is compelled to maintain meticulous records.

As a result, your company processes may become more cumbersome, and your staff may be forced to do more work as a result. 

Transaction costs and setup fees for many payment processors fall on the shoulders of merchants. To put it another way: PayPal charges around 4% for every transaction (and sometimes more). Cryptocurrencies may also be used to avoid foreign currency payment costs if your firm services clients in other countries. This is because cryptocurrencies have no connection to a particular country or central bank.