Businesses’ name registration made easier

Proprietors could now easily apply for or renew their business names online, after the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) partnered with three e-payment platforms to take long lines out of the equation.

The DTI signed three separate agreements with GCash, PayMaya and LinkBiz, providing a suite of online payment options for the convenience of the businesses, the agency said in a statement on Friday.

“Long queues and inefficient and slow services will soon be a thing of the past in government. At DTI, we are constantly improving our front-line services to become on a par with international standards,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said.

“Our agreement with e-payment platforms completes our business name registration system as we are now able to provide our citizens the convenience of having to transact with DTI through their mobile phones in the comfort of their homes, or wherever they are, 24/7,” he added.

GCash and PayMaya are backed by the country’s two telco giants. LinkBiz, for its part, is the e-payment facility of state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines.

GCash is operated by Mynt (Global Fintech Innovations Inc.), which is owned by Ayala Corp., Globe Telecom and Jack Ma-led Ant Financial Services Group. PayMaya, on the other hand, is the technology arm of PLDT Inc.’s Voyager Innovations.

This initiative, Lopez said, was in compliance with the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.

By offering a digital payment platform, prospective entrepreneurs no longer have to suffer delays in the processing of their registrations, which could affect the growth of their business and the economy, PayMaya said in a separate statement.