DBP, PAYMAYA TIE-UP. Members of the NMI Agri Coop receive their ATM IDs during the launch of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) for Isabela Saturday (Oct. 12, 2019). Through the PayMaya powered ID cards, rice farmers will their receive payments for their produce from NMI Agri Coop, as well as disbursements from cash assistance from DBP-partner local governments and organizations. In photo are (from left) PayMaya Director and Head of Enterprise Business Mar Lazaro; NMI Agri Coop President Ana Cristina Siquian-Go; Agriculture Secretary William Dar; Isabela Governor Rodito Albano III (fourth from right); Isabela Vice Governor Faustino “Bojie” Dy III (second from right); DBP President and CEO Emmanuel Herbosa (rightmost); and rice farmers and NMI Agri Coop members who received their ATM ID Card. (Photo courtesy of PayMaya)
MANILA -- In line with the government's call to boost financial inclusion in the country and for more efficient delivery of public services to citizen beneficiaries, the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has chosen PayMaya as the digital financial services partner for its assistance program which aims to help farmers improve their livelihood and productivity.
Under the program, farmer beneficiaries will be able to receive payments for produce as well as disbursements from cash assistance from DBP-partner local governments and organizations through their PayMaya-powered ID cards.
PayMaya will also be providing the cashless disbursement platform to the partner organizations.
To complete the digital financial ecosystem, PayMaya will enable more businesses, especially in retail, food, fuel and utility industries that cater to farmers and their families to accept emerging cashless payment options, including PayMaya QR (Quick Response).
It will also mobilize its Smart Padala by PayMaya nation-widest partner branch network to serve as "digital outposts" in the communities so farmers and their families can conveniently add or cash-out funds even in areas without ATMs.
“Giving our farmers much-needed access to financial products to help uplift their livelihood is an important mission for DBP as part of our thrust toward financial inclusion for every Filipino," DBP President and CEO Emmanuel Herbosa said.
"By employing digital means to deliver crucial financial services to them, we are able to help boost their productivity, increase their yields, improve their lives, and contribute to the growth of the economy as a whole,” he said.
Orlando Vea, founder and CEO of PayMaya, said this financial inclusion serves "the needs of one of the most underserved sectors of our society -- our farmers."
"This project brings important digital financial services to the agriculture sector, serving as building blocks toward the growth of our economy,” he added.
Empowering farmers in Isabela
The initial implementation of the project will be targeting rice and tobacco farmers in Isabela province, with the provincial government of Isabela and the Nagkaisang Magsasaka ng Isabela Agricultural Cooperative (NMIAC) as program partners.
Dubbed as the Isabela Prosperity Program, the pilot will cover two sets of farmer beneficiaries -- tobacco farmers covered by the Isabela Province Tobacco Farmers Proceeds, and rice farmer members of NMIAC who will benefit fromthe loan with DBP, selling their palay at a premium price under the Expanded Rice Credit Assistance of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ERCA-RCEF).
DBP and PayMaya are partnering with the provincial government of Isabela to efficiently disburse the proceeds of the province’s share in the excise tax collections on burley and native tobacco among farmers in the region through PayMaya-powered ID cards.
Isabela Governor Rodito Albano III, in a statement, said this initiative "will help boost not just the productivity but also the competitiveness of farmers in Isabela, as they will be provided with crucial financial services that can help with their farm livelihoods, powered by technology."
"We thank our partners at DBP and PayMaya for choosing Isabela as the pilot site for this innovative collaboration,” he said. (PNA)
