For the last few months, I had been traveling nonstop. Although I had been doing holiday shopping in cities I visited, especially Tokyo, there were gifts for people I had inadvertently missed. On Christmas Eve, I got a text from my sister that my cousins, by surprise, would be spending Christmas at our place—and I thought I had until after Christmas to shop for them. Unfortunately, I was only landing from Butuan late afternoon of at the 24th, so I had to make a mad dash from the airport to SM Mall of Asia before going home in time for dinner.
I thought it was also the perfect opportunity to try out PayMaya QR, which they’ve recently rolled out to The SM Store branches nationwide, since PayMaya is offering a 10% rebate (maximum of 100 PHP rebate per day per merchant) until December 31, 2017 through the Rebates and Rewards (R&R) promotion. (More details on that here.)
As my Uber pulled into the mall, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who, like me, had the Filipino habit of doing things at the last minute, because I thought everyone would’ve been home by then. Anyway, I went immediately to the girls’ section at the third floor to pick up a bag and some cute stuff for my two little cousins.
Thereafter, I went to the snack bar to grab things to share with the family—including bags of quinoa and hummus chips. Then I picked up a couple of shirts to bring for my upcoming two-week trip.
When it was time to pay, I saw a “Mobile Pay Lane,” which accepted PayMaya QR. I thought that was cool and that we’re really gearing towards a future of mobile payments.
As the teller rung my items up, I opened my PayMaya app to open its built-in QR scanner. I scanned the QR code displayed prominently by the counter as I was asked for payment. I input the amount due (you may actually choose how much to pay using PayMaya QR to the last centavo), while the cashier checked out her phone to confirm that the payment was sent. The entire process was fast and seamless, and before long, I was already done shopping.
PayMaya QR is currently available at The SM Store branches nationwide; the Robinsons Galleria branch of Robinsons Department Store, Robinsons Supermarket, Topman, Topshop, G2000, Warehouse, and Dorothy Perkins; and the Cyberscape Alpha and Cyberscape Beta, Pasig branches of Mini Stop. For more details and to sign up for a PayMaya account, visit paymaya.com.
