Legendary Boxer Manny Pacquiao to launch new payment platform this year

"This is not just about making a personal profit, but I would like to see it as a long-term investment for the betterment of my countrymen," Senator Pacquiao said.

Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao is launching a new payment platform through his company Pac Technologies. Aimed at servicing social media influencers and retail brands, his newest venture, PacPay is all set to hit the virtual payment highway later this year.

In an interview with BBC, the legendary boxer, who also has a seat in the Philippine Senate, talked further about his new project. "People are always curious to find out what I am getting into. And because of my latest involvement with this fintech [financial technology] venture, a lot of my fellow athletes, global influencers and other entrepreneurs have expressed their interest and potential involvement in the platform," Pacquiao said.

Pac Technologies is looking to provide faster and safer cross-border transactions that will initially roll out in the Philippines and Singapore with future plans to expand across the Asian continent.

Seeing the trend of how social media users have built up a sturdy fanbase on Facebook and Instagram, retail companies have found a strong market position with "influencers" who promote and market products for companies and their brands.

PacPay focuses on making the payment between brands and companies as seamless, safe and convenient as possible. Part of the platform's feature is a rewards programme where users can connect with their favoured influencers and brands

Pac Technologies is also looking at opening its platform to online payments services that cater to healthcare and employment which are direly in need of prioritised transactions during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

"This is not just about making a personal profit, but I would like to see it as a long-term investment for the betterment of my countrymen," Senator Pacquiao added.

True to his mission and vision, the Manny Pacquiao Foundation joined forces with the Jack Ma Foundation to pledge 50,000 coronavirus test kits to aid the Philippines in the fight against the pandemic.

A similar payment platform concept called Pixiv Pay was launched in Japan in 2017, which mainly catered to the manga and anime market. It gave the niche artists an avenue to receive payment faster and enabled fans to purchase their work through digital payments.