MAYA GROUP expects to remain profitable this year as its digital bank continues to roll out more products to tap different market sectors.
“We became profitable in December, and we continue to be profitable month on month since then,” Maya Group President and Maya Bank Co-Founder Shailesh Baidwan told reporters on the sidelines of an event late on Wednesday.
“[It’s still] early days for our credit card business, but at this stage, we are extremely happy with the way the customers are using our products. And with the profitability profile of our products, we expect to sustain the profitability for the rest of the year,” Mr. Baidwan said.
Maya Bank on Wednesday officially launched its Maya Black credit card, which is its second card product and seeks to cater first-time credit cardholders through secured and unsecured credit lines, fast digital approval, instant virtual issuance, and full in-app control. The card also offers other perks like rewards points called Maya Miles, airport lounge access via DragonPass.
Maya Black now has over 40,000 cardholders following the card’s pilot rollout in May.
Overall, the digital bank has issued over 230,000 credit cards since August 2024, including its co-branded card with membership shopping mart Landers Superstore.
Maya Group or Maya Innovations Holdings, Pte. Ltd., formerly Voyager Innovations Holdings, Pte. Ltd., is the parent holding company of Maya Philippines, Inc. and Maya Bank, Inc.
Maya Philippines is registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as an electronic money issuer, remittance and transfer company, operator of payment system, and virtual asset services provider. Meanwhile, Maya Bank is one of the six BSP-licensed digital banks in the country.
PLDT Inc., Maya Innovations’ main shareholder, said in May that the group posted a net income of P127 million in the first quarter, driven by strong lending, deposit, and payments volumes, with Maya Bank being in the black starting September 2024.
PLDT expects the group to generate about P1 billion in profit this year.
As of end-June, Maya Bank reached 8.2 million customers and over P50 billion in deposits, Mr. Baidwan said.
“As you roll out more lending products, you’ve got to make sure that the margins support the right kind of provisions and losses, so that’s what we need to work on. We’re very pleased with the current set of products,” he said.
Provisioning and the digital bank’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered credit scoring will keep nonperforming loan levels manageable as they launch more consumer products like credit cards, with many of their clients being first-time cardholders, the official added.
“Less than 15% of Filipino adults have a credit card. So, 85% are still to receive a credit card. So, there are things that we will test and learn along the way because of things like the coverage from the credit bureau is not where we would like it to be, so we are constantly testing, learning, and then tweaking our AI engines for credit scoring and underwriting,” Mr. Baidwan said.
He added that the bank’s current product profile cushions it from the potential earnings impact of lower borrowing costs.
“We are cognizant of any softening that happens in interest rates. But at this stage, we believe — given the way our products are profiled, given the stage of growth that we are in, and the growth journey that we have ahead — we are not at a mature level in terms of our loan-to-deposit ratio, so we have more headroom to grow. We believe at this stage we will be comfortable and okay with some reductions that are expected for rates in the near future.”
Mr. Baidwan also said that Maya Bank will continue to serve underserved segments, with plans to tap the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) sector by providing them with capital loans.
Meanwhile, Maya Group on Wednesday also launched Maya Black Preferred, a merchant-linked rewards program that connects its credit platform to its acquiring network. Under the program, Maya Black cardholders can earn up to 10 times Maya Miles when they shop at over 600 Maya Black Preferred merchants nationwide.
Maya Group plans to further expand this program to MSMEs by using behavioral insights from its suite of business tools Maya Checkout, Maya POS (point-of-sale) and Maya Business Manager, it said.
“We’re not just launching a credit card — we’re activating the full power of Maya’s ecosystem. With innovations like the Maya Black Preferred partner program, we will not only expand access to credit but also create even greater value for consumers and businesses alike,” Mr. Baidwan said in a speech at the launch.
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