Japan’s MUFG Bank has invested in MarCoPay Inc, a digital payment and financial services platform for Philippine seafarers.
MUFG joins MarCoPay’s existing partners NYK Line, trading house Marubeni Corporation, and Philippine logistics company the Transnational Diversified Group as a partner in the company.
The investors have also agreed on forming a strategic partnership to develop the company.
The size and value of MUFG’s investment have not been disclosed.
MarCoPay was established in 2019 as a digital financial platform for seafarers with services including e-payment, money transfer and currency exchange.
“With the investment participation of MUFG Bank, a leading global financial institution in Japan, which also operates a banking business in the Philippines, MarCoPay aims to build and expand new services such as savings and investment in addition to expanding existing services,” NYK said in a statement.
The Japanese shipping company said that it views the development of MarCoPay as a part of its ESG activities because the service can enrich the lives of Philippine seafarers.
NYK said MarCoPay could “work to resolve social issues such as access to financial services”.
