Investment by T. Rowe Price to continue mission of growing financial inclusion across the Global South
SAN FRANCISCO, July 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- PayJoy, a Public Benefit Corporation focused on bringing responsible financing to underserved customers in emerging markets, today announced a new investment into its PayJoy Asset Fund ("PJAF") by accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. This direct investment is intended to help provide access to credit to people in the developing world to help them gain easier access to smartphone technology, which has become integral to economic advancement in today's world. The size of the investment was not disclosed.
Today, 1 in 2 PayJoy customers is new to credit, and 1 in 3 is accessing a smartphone for the first time—creating a powerful on-ramp to the formal financial system. Independent research by UC Berkeley shows PayJoy's financing drives a 6% increase in household income, demonstrating its role as a tool for productive finance. Nearly half of PayJoy's customer base are women, many of whom rely on PayJoy-financed products to participate in the digital economy and support their families through flexible, gig-based work. By combining responsible underwriting with real-world impact, PayJoy continues to deliver strong outcomes for both investors and underserved communities.
"T. Rowe Price joining the PayJoy Asset Fund is a major milestone," said Bill Yialamas, Chief Financial Officer of PayJoy. "This investment in the PayJoy Asset Fund will put us in a better position to expand credit to more customers across the Global South that will enhance people's lives. Access to smartphone technology is a critical tool to help connect people around the world and to participate in the global economy."
The PayJoy Asset Fund allows qualified investors to earn attractive returns while expanding access to credit in emerging markets. PJAF has grown to over $250 million in assets under management, making it one of the largest funds focused on this asset class. The fund finances lending products originated by PayJoy for underserved customers in emerging markets. PJAF is structured to scale to over $1 billion in lockstep with PayJoy's growth. With over 15 million customers served, PayJoy is rapidly expanding its reach across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
"The mobile phone is essentially an entry ticket into our increasingly connected world, and yet, many people who live in developing countries cannot afford it," said Samy Muaddi, head of Emerging Markets Fixed Income at T. Rowe Price. "We believe PayJoy's proprietary mobile security technology and machine-learning underwriting platform provide a great example of a tech-enabled, data-driven innovation that can help fuel sustainable and responsible economic growth."
With more than US$30 Billion actively managed assets in emerging markets fixed income securities, T. Rowe Price Associates has a successful track record of investing in high growth markets for over 30 years. The firm's actively managed portfolios strive to outperform passively managed benchmarks and industry peers through its longstanding practice of conducting rigorous global investment research, asking better questions, and using critical thinking in an effort to deliver better investment outcomes for clients.
The PJAF management team, which includes Sumeet Wadhera, Bill Yialamas, Camila Perez, Brad Pennington, Weili Dong, and Moshe Rosenbaum has a combined 50+ years of experience in lending and risk management, capital markets and private credit at Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Barclays, Moody's Analytics, Prosper Marketplace, and more.
About PayJoy
PayJoy is a Public Benefit Corporation that provides a fair and responsible entry point for individuals in emerging markets to enter the modern financial system, build credit, achieve economic freedom, and access digital connectivity. PayJoy has financed over $2.5 billion of loans with 15M + people and employs over 1,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit https://www.payjoy.com/.
SOURCE PayJoy
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