PalawanPay, the mobile e-wallet application of the Palawan Group of Companies, plans to launch its physical card in the fourth quarter as it expands beyond digital services, according to a company executive.
“We’re looking at launching the physical cards later this year. Maybe later early next year, but the goal really is around November, December,” Palawan Group of Companies President and Chief Executive Officer Karlo M. Castro told reporters in an interview on Thursday.
“Q4 is the target but of course, there are a lot of moving parts. Tech is almost done, but there’s a lot of regulatory requirements,” he added.
The company’s physical Visa card aims to provide more flexible point-of-sale and in-store payments with a ‘minimum’ foreign exchange fee for users worldwide.
“It’s really not just a Visa card, it’s also with banknotes, so you can withdraw at the ATM (Automated Teller Machine) so there’s going to be a minimal fee to have a card but most of the features are actually available digitally,” Mr. Castro said.
“It’s just the usual Visa charge, the forex fees, but it’s going to be very minimal. We’ll make sure that it’s affordable,” he added.
The expansion of the digital payment platform into physical cards comes after the launch of its Visa virtual card last year.
With the virtual card, users could pay for online transactions on e-commerce platforms, subscription services, and bill payments. The digital card also allows users to cash in for free at more than 3,500 Palawan Express branches nationwide.
“All the services, whether it’s pawning, it’s buying insurance, whether it’s renewing their pawns or any other service, buying insurance, it’s really interconnected,” Mr. Castro said.
“You can use PalawanPay for any of the services of the Palawan group and vice versa so really, that’s the advantage,” he added.
In June, the company’s virtual card added Google Wallet support, allowing users to make contactless payments in stores through their mobile phones instead of a physical card.
“I personally linked my PalawanPay Visa card virtually to Google Pay so I can really pay in terminals and even abroad,” Mr. Castro said. “We’re a couple of months away from Apple Pay, but we launched Google Pay a few months ago.”
PalawanPay currently has 23 million users since its launch in 2022. Of these, 1.8 million have activated and used their virtual cards. — Almira Louise S. Martinez
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