While seemingly teasing its rival’s feature for anonymity, fintech firm Maya introduced a new feature on its platform that utilizes customized, unique usernames for its clients to use in transactions.
“Forget phone numbers and names with silly ast*r*sks Say hello to @usernames and use them to send and request money with your Maya friends! ,” Maya wrote in a Facebook post.
This service means that verified users can now have their own usernames through an updated Maya app.
Giving anonymity to users came to light when several identity thefts, text scams, and phishing incidents occurred due to the exposed and easily accessible information–such as the full name and mobile numbers of users– on the wallets.
Say hello to @usernames and use them to send and request money with your Maya friends! 👋
— Maya (@mayaofficialph) November 9, 2022
😎 Keep it simple or go wild – your @username is 100% you
💳 Flex your @username on your Maya card (coming super soon!)
Learn more at https://t.co/ONdTuu6zZR pic.twitter.com/HRhAggHLdP
What Maya was probably referring to in its “silly ast*r*sks” remark was the update done by another local e-wallet, Gcash, which anonymizes account usernames when making transactions by censoring the full names of users in its send money service done last September.
Aside from this update, Gcash also did other things to further address the concerns on data privacy on its platforms, such as removing links in its text messages and emails and signing a deal with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to fight online fraud and e-scams.
On the other hand, in September, Maya issued a warning against the “Maya Trade” app on the Google Play Store stating that they are not affiliated in any way with the app and it is NOT the same as “Maya,” the official app and brand of Maya Philippines, Inc. and Maya Bank, Inc.
Currently, Maya has been active in onboarding Filipinos into cryptocurrency. In fact, it even rebranded from its former name, Paymaya, to include online banking services alongside its e-wallet, cryptocurrency trading, and micro-investments.
Last August, they gave a student from Cebu City ₱1,000,000 worth of Bitcoin as part of its Maya Free Bitcoin promo, where users are randomly receiving BTC.
Accordingly, just months after its official launch, its digital bank, Maya, had successfully registered 1 million customers and reached ₱10 billion in deposits. While just two months prior to this, Maya reached 650,000 customers and five billion pesos in deposit balances.
