The officers of the newly formed Philippine e-Money Association (PeMA) were inducted by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. last July 20 at the Central Bank headquarters in Manila.

PayMaya President and CEO Orlando B. Vea serves as PeMA’s Chairman; Infoserve President and CEO Zoilo Jesus M. Dela Cruz III is PeMA’s Vice Chairman; G-Xchange President and CEO Albert O. Tinio is PeMA’s President; Omnipay President and CEO Simoun S. Ung is PeMA’s Treasurer; and BSP Microfinance Consultant Eduardo C. Jimenez is PeMA’s independent director.

PeMA was officially organized on November 16, 2017 by Paymaya, GCash, Nationlink Network, and Omnipay, Inc. It was formed to establish, maintain, and perpetuate mutual confidence, and close cooperation of non-bank electronic money issuers.

In the same event, the newly elected officers discussed plans with BSP Governor Espenilla to enable Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country to accept electronic payments. This is in line with the BSP’s “20-20” goal under the National Retail Payment System.

“PeMA is committed to work with the BSP to increase the adoption of electronic retail payments to 20% by 2020. This is why we want to ensure that we maintain mutual confidence and close cooperation among non-bank electronic money issuers. We hope that our meeting today will be the start of a great collaboration and partnership with the BSP. We want to help the administration to reach the unbanked and underserved Filipinos,” said Tinio.

Vea noted that PeMA is dedicated to create more progress in helping the BSP to build the country’s digital payments ecosystem. “Progress in developing an inclusive digital payments ecosystem depends on all stakeholders. Our association will work closely with the Central Bank through sharing knowledge as each member continues to innovate their respective services and platforms. Our common goal: help empower consumers by giving them access to financial services and enable more businesses by allowing them to easily accept payments across all channels,” Vea said.

PeMA will work towards enabling more merchants and MSMEs in the country to accept electronic payments. “For our part, we at PeMA plan to continue to expand our reach and enable more merchants. We will continue to establish strategic partnerships with different institutions and offices to support the creation of a cashless ecosystem,” Tinio said.

The association will continue to lead efforts to bring together non-bank electronic money issuers. PeMA welcomes other interested and qualified companies and organizations to join the organization. To learn more about PeMA and reach out to the organization, individuals and groups may visit https://m.facebook.com/emoneyassn.