Asia spotlights Kaya
KUALA LUMPUR – The KAYA Payment Platform took centerstage at the 2019 Asian Credit Union Forum as prominent leaders of the Philippine co-op sector testified on its reliability and convenience. They also urged Asian co-op leaders to follow their lead, as KAYA has been piloted in the Philippines since 2017.
From September 26 to 28, the Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions held the 2019 Asian Credit Union Forum at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel.
Before 500 Asian co-op leaders, Marlene Celo, chairperson of the National Confederation of Credit Cooperatives (NATCCO), and Attorney Gloria Futalan, chairperson of the Philippine Federation of Credit Cooperatives (PFCCO-Visayas) joined a panel onstage to promote and share the KAYA vision.
KAYA Accessibility. “Age doesn’t matter in using technology,” said Marlene Celo, when prompted about her experience with KAYA. “We have to learn how to use the technology because this is where we are right now.”
Celo said that KAYA is easy to use and very accessible, even for the elderly.
She added: “We should be teachable. So whether you like it or not, as leaders, you have to know how to use technology so that your members will also learn how to use it.”
“I believe that KAYA will be a unifying factor for all of us to be interconnected,” Celo continued. “And we will be globally competitive, because we have the technology that we call our own.”
In further endorsing KAYA, Celo highlighted one of its features: the fund transfer. She told the audience about her experience with the KAYA mobile app, recounting the time she used the feature to transfer a sum of Php 200 into her manager’s KAYA account, and back to her own. The money was conveniently transferred back and forth between their accounts, and both transfers were followed by a text from KAYA to ensure the safety of the transaction.
“Isn’t that exciting?” she asked the crowd when she finished her story. “Well, it is, and it would make our lives easier. So, go KAYA now!”
KAYA Vision. Futalan was then asked about KAYA’s vision when it was first launched.
“We envisioned KAYA to be an identity tool for the cooperative movement in the Philippines,” she answered. “Delivering services to far-flung places, KAYA is envisioned to be a financial inclusion tool.”
Futalan went on to explain how bigger corporations have made their mark on the business world, thus leaving less space for smaller establishments to flourish.
“Our identity is important to us, and because KAYA is ours, then we can tell the whole world that the cooperative sector is at par, if not better, than the ones who look at their bottom line figures as more important.”
KAYA is a service created with the idea in mind that convenience should be a necessity for everyone across the world. Futalan gracefully explained, “Our mandate is to help people help themselves, and KAYA definitely is an instrument for attaining such.”
She continued to explain how KAYA made the cooperative movement known, its inclusion in talks with regulators, and its help in pushing smaller businesses to a brighter future.
“We just have to answer when technology calls, because age does not matter. What matters is we belong, we are here, we will be adopting something that’s good, and we will benefit our cooperators, so in the end, our mandate of helping people help themselves will truly be realized.”
Inclusivity for the poor. At the forum, it was asked: “How do we get our people to become interested in this technology if their stomachs are empty, and if they are not educated enough to understand the intricacies of technology?”
Futalan answered, “Because we are people-oriented, we know the needs of our members, we know the needs of our people. Let this be a challenge to co-operatives. If it is a question now of educating our members so that they get to be on board, I know that can be addressed. I have faith in the co-ops.”
The problems of them lacking knowledge and resources to use KAYA can be addressed, Futalan said. “I don’t see that as an impossibility. Difficult, yes. Impossible, no. We can learn. We can adapt.”
On weak internet connection: “While it’s a government endeavor to make the connection good enough for us to get into digitization, I consider this as something that we, together, can address. I have faith in everyone.”
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- Asia spotlights Kaya