Manila, Philippines — Yang Yang Zhang, Xendit’s country head and managing director, recently participated in the Institute of Corporate Directors’ (ICD) webinar, called Technology Governance for Directors: Sink, Float, or Swim – in the Waves of E-Commerce.
Zhang joined other respected speakers in the industry, including Cherrie Atilano, founding farmer, president, and CEO of AGREA Agricultural Systems International, Inc.; Daphne Ashley Sze, equity research analyst of Maybank Securities, Inc.; and Henry Aguda, FICD, and chairman of the board of UBX Philippines.
In the webinar, Zhang highlighted the fintech startup’s commitment to building seamless digital infrastructure for the Philippines in line with the three pillars of development that the BSP has laid out in their digitization goal. These pillars include wider adoption of digital payments among consumers and businesses, enhanced digital finance infrastructure, and alignment of these payment streams and systems with global best standards and practices. In just a year of operations, Xendit was able to address these with more plans to expand services and solutions for 2022. Xendit has built and is continuously offering an easy-to-use, one-stop platform to allow partners and SMEs to easily adapt and transition their businesses online. They are also working closely with partners to enhance the overall digital finance infrastructure thanks to their integrations that facilitate simple and secure transactions across banks both locally and abroad.
Yet all these advances are not without their challenges as over-the-counter payments are still a widely popular method in the country. It presents unique barriers to uninterrupted operations such as manual payments that require 24/7 manpower for continuous disbursement, which usually means working over business hours and having a high risk of exposure to fraud. As a result, integrating new payment channels is often slow and difficult to support and scale.
To solve these problems, Xendit provides businesses of all sizes a strong online presence by serving as an innovative online payment gateway that allows them to meet their customer’s needs and even scale their operations. This allows for unlimited transfers to any bank in the Philippines via API, even letting businesses integrate and charge across multiple banks around the world within hours.
Xendit also offers responsive and personalized support from its customer service team. They are accessible daily, including weekends and holidays, through their Contact Us page.
“Digitization paves the way for businesses to cope with the changing times. The Philippines is at a uniquely exciting inflection point because regulators are becoming increasingly more open to innovation and the economy is on the verge of hypergrowth. As we proudly became a Southeast Asian unicorn after securing $150 million in Series C funding, we are fully equipped and eager to utilize our last round of fundraising to double down on our key initiatives for the Philippines in order to expedite digital transformation,” says Zhang.
Some of the strategies that Zhang laid out during the ICD webinar include building long-term strategic partnerships to advance product innovations, championing the local startup ecosystem by facilitating access to capital, and empowering micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by developing features and programs that cater directly to them.
“We were truly honored to have Yang Yang as part of our roster of speakers during our recent conference for the members of the Institute of Corporate Directors as she shared her journey in making digital transformation a reality in the Philippines. It was a great experience for the members of the ICD community to know more about how Xendit established its footing in the country from a small team of product specialists to growing more than 10 times its headcount from when it started in the Philippines,” says Julie W. Reyes, Chair of the Technology Governance Committee of the ICD.
Aside from growing its team tenfold and celebrating its first anniversary in the Philippines in 2021, the startup has grown its average total payment volume by 35% month-on-month, as well as its average monthly active customers by 25% month-on-month.
Xendit also achieved these key milestones in that same year:
It is the first Philippine payment gateway to offer all three of the top e-wallets: GCash, GrabPay, and PayMaya. Xendit was also the first to introduce a Direct Debit solution in partnership with the top banks in the Philippines, and a Buy Now Pay Later solution with BillEase. Xendit also offered transactions through ECPay, 7-Eleven, and Cebuana Lhuillier.
To further build the country’s digital infrastructure, Xendit engaged in a strategic partnership with Dragonpay, one of the pioneering digital solutions platforms in the country. This allows both companies to work together and accelerate their technological innovation, expand their regional reach, and empower Filipinos to adapt to digitization more easily.
“We’re looking forward to witnessing Xendit Philippines work towards building a world-class digital infrastructure together with key industry sector leaders and local communities.” ends Reyes.
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