Fintech Firm BayaniPay Launches Neobank for Fil-Ams

BayaniPay Inc., a Filipino-led fintech company, has partnered with California-based East West Bank to introduce the very first neobank that aims to address the financial needs of Filipino-Americans. “Filipino-Americans are one of the largest Asian American groups in the United States, with a $145-billion purchasing power,” explained BayaniPay CEO Winston Damarillo. “Despite their significant market size and buying power, no bank has catered to their financial needs and responsibilities both here and in the Philippines.”

The Filipino-American neobank — a direct bank that operates exclusively online — also marks the first time that East West Bank’s digital banking platform has been made available to operate as a banking-as-a-service platform. BayaniPay launched in November 2021 with the primary goal of providing zero-fee remittances from California to the Philippines as well as market-leading foreign exchange rates.

“As an immigrant myself, I’ve had firsthand experience with how financial services for global professionals were sorely lacking or came with high fees. That’s why we created BayaniPay,” Damarillo added, noting that his fintech firm looks to address the needs of around 4.2 million Filipino-Americans by incorporating bank products into its platform.

East-West Bank executive vice president and COO Parker Shi added that their partnership with BayaniPay serves as a significant financial bridge between the US and Asia. “We introduced direct-to-consumer digital banking services to provide customers around the world with comprehensive solutions that fit their lifestyle,” Shi elaborated. “This partnership enables fintech providers like BayaniPay to embed our products and services to serve a whole new group of customers.”

Users of BayaniPay will now be able to open a digital checking account powered by East West Bank, order a co-branded Visa debit card, as well as send zero-free remittances to the Philippines. Additionally, the fintech company is also looking to enable recipients in the Philippines to collect remittances in 12 hours or less through most national banks, rural banks, pawnshops, or cash pick-up outlets, according to Damarillo. At the moment, BayaniPay is only available in California. However, the company hopes to expand its operations to more states in the future.

Source: BusinessMirror