{"id":73695,"date":"2026-04-06T07:56:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T23:56:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=73695"},"modified":"2026-04-05T22:59:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T14:59:12","slug":"maya-taps-spark-philippines-to-support-women-micro-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2026\/04\/06\/maya-taps-spark-philippines-to-support-women-micro-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Maya taps SPARK! Philippines to support women micro-entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maya is working with SPARK! Philippines (Samahan ng mga Pilipina para sa Reporma at Kaunlaran Inc.),\u00a0a non\u2011profit organization advancing gender\u2011responsive policies and women\u2019s leadership,\u00a0as part of its flagship sustainability initiative for women\u2019s financing under its broader financial health agenda.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Maya expands access to digital financial services for women micro-entrepreneurs, including payments, savings and credit, it is tapping SPARK! Philippines to complement these efforts through training, mentorship, advocacy and community-based support, recognizing that helping women grow their businesses requires more than financing alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a segment that remains underserved despite its scale,\u201d said\u00a0Toff Rada, Head of Corporate Affairs at Maya. \u201cOur focus is to provide women-led micro businesses with practical tools and support, including financial education, that can help them manage daily operations and build more sustainable income over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen micro-entrepreneurs are already driving economic activity in their communities, but many still face barriers beyond access to financing,\u201d said\u00a0Maica Teves, Executive Director of SPARK! Philippines. \u201cBy working with Maya, we aim to bring training, mentorship and community-based support closer to them, helping strengthen and sustain their businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Women play\u00a0a central role\u00a0in the Philippine MSME sector, with\u00a0various studies\u00a0indicating\u00a0that more than half of small businesses are owned or led by women. Women also account for a significant share of new business formation in the country. MSMEs account for 99.5% of all formal businesses, employ about 63% of the workforce and contribute roughly 40% of economic output, according to data from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).<\/p>\n

Despite this, women-led enterprises\u00a0remain\u00a0underserved. A 2023 study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) found that only about 28% of women-led MSMEs adopt digital financial services, compared to 44% of male-led businesses\u2014highlighting gaps in access to tools that support growth and financial stability.<\/p>\n

Maya\u2019s own network points to the opportunity when these gaps are addressed.\u00a0More than 90% of its nationwide Maya Centers are\u00a0operated\u00a0by women, many of whom run\u00a0sari-sari\u00a0stores and other neighborhood businesses.<\/p>\n

Through its\u00a0Maya Business app, Maya enables MSMEs to accept digital payments, manage transactions and access financial services in one place. This helps simplify daily operations and improve cash flow. Eligible businesses can also access short-term credit to support working capital needs, such as restocking inventory and managing day-to-day expenses.<\/p>\n

The collaboration reflects Maya\u2019s approach to financial health\u2014expanding access to financial services while ensuring these are used in ways that help women entrepreneurs grow, manage their businesses, and build more resilient livelihoods.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis is a segment that remains underserved despite its scale,\u201d said\u00a0Toff Rada, Head of Corporate Affairs at Maya. \u201cOur focus is to provide women-led micro businesses with practical tools and support, including financial education, that can help them manage daily operations and build more sustainable income over time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":73696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[2550,7376],"class_list":["post-73695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","tag-corporate-social-responsibility","tag-maya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73695"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73697,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73695\/revisions\/73697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}