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Following the conclusion of the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, Maya and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) have successfully executed their expanded partnership, which saw the distribution of Maya Visa prepaid cards to the Philippine national athletes and coaches who competed in the regional meet.
Visa Cards for Athletes
The initiative covered more than 1,600 athletes, coaches, and officials—the country’s largest delegation to the SEA Games to date. The prepaid cards were utilized to digitally disburse allowances and incentives, effectively replacing the traditional manual cash releases of previous years.
According to the firms, the cards allowed the delegation to:
- Receive funds on time.
- Pay for purchases and bills seamlessly.
- Track transactions in real-time.
- Access financial services through linked Maya accounts.
Maya highlighted that the cards were accepted at over 130 million merchants and one million ATMs worldwide, providing the team with reliable access to funds throughout their overseas training and competition in Thailand.
Modernizing Sports Management
Reflecting on the initiative, PSC Chairman John Patrick Gregorio noted that the shift to digital disbursements was a key step in the agency’s modernization efforts.
“By moving allowances to secure, digital channels, we reduced queues and paperwork, improved transparency, and helped our athletes manage their finances more easily—especially when they were representing the country internationally.”
John Patrick Gregorio, Chairman, PSC
Maya Group President and Maya Bank Co-Founder Shailesh Baidwan added that the partnership succeeded in providing athletes with modern financial tools, ensuring secure spending and budgeting during their travel.
“This partnership was about giving our athletes modern financial tools that work as hard as they do… By digitizing allowance disbursements and giving them a globally accepted prepaid card, we made it easier for them to budget, save, and spend securely—whether they were in Manila, Bangkok, or anywhere in between.”
Shailesh Baidwan, President, Maya Group and Co-Founder, Maya Bank
This rollout was part of Maya’s ongoing “Championing the Pinoy Athlete” program, aimed at promoting long-term financial wellness in Philippine sports. Following the Games, Maya and the PSC have indicated plans to explore further initiatives, including financial wellness sessions and broader adoption of digital tools in sports governance.
Recent Maya News
In November, the Department of Information and Technology (DICT) and Maya expanded their partnership during the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025 to integrate digital payment and financial services into the eGovPH app and the PEMEDES system. It aims to make government transactions more seamless, secure, and accessible. The collaboration will embed tools for payments, savings, credit, insurance, and financial inclusion initiatives to support both citizens and delivery workers under the government’s digital transformation push.
Maya Bank was recently named “Best Digital Bank in the Philippines” for the third consecutive year by The Digital Banker at the Global Retail Banking Innovation Awards 2025.Â
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