Digital payments gaining ground

MANILA, Philippines — Digital payments gained ground in the first half of 2020 and may expand further as the country shifts from a cash-heavy to a cash-lite economy by 2023, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

During the launch of the QR Ph Person-to-Merchant (P2M) digital payment system, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said the share of digital payments to total retail transactions rose to 17 percent as of end-June last year from 14 percent in 2019.

Likewise, Diokno said the share of the value of electronic payments to total retail transactions went up to 25 percent as of end-June last year from 24 percent in 2019.

“In both results, the P2M and the person-to-person use-cases proved to be driving the expansion of digital payments in the country. This only confirms that we are on the right track in providing the necessary interventions to promote digitalization of consumers and merchants alike,” Diokno said.

The BSP launched the National Retail Payments System (NRPS) in December 2015 to raise the share of digital payments to total retail transactions in terms of value and volume to 20 percent by 2020 from only one percent in 2013.

Under its three-year Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap, the BSP commits to convert half of total retail transactions in the country in terms of volume and value to digital channels by 2023.

Based on the latest data provided by the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA), the share of digital payments rose to 14 percent in 2019 from 10 percent in 2018 in terms of volume and to 24 percent from 20 percent in terms of value.

“We’ve seen very promising growth in digital payments in the last few years. We now must ensure that this growth is inclusive and digital payments are serving all Filipinos,” Diokno said.

With QR Ph P2M, consumers need not memorize details of their bank accounts as the relevant information are securely stored in the QR code. They only need their mobile phones and do not have to worry about carrying cash or credit cards.

The interoperability feature of QR Ph further eases retail transactions through digital payments as customers do not have to maintain separate accounts with the payment service providers who are enrolled in it. Merchants enrolled in QR Ph also do not need to display numerous QR codes in their establishments.

“With these expected gains to the economy, the QR Ph P2M is bound to significantly contribute to the BSP’s efforts dedicated toward the development of a more vibrant and inclusive digital payments ecosystem,” Diokno said.

QR Ph can be used to pay select merchants with accounts in InstaPay pilot participants including AllBank Inc., Asia United Bank, PayMaya, Robinsons Bank and Union Bank of the Philippines. The project’s full implementation is scheduled in September.

PayMaya president Shailesh Baidwan said the launch of the QR Ph P2M marks another milestone in building a cashless Philippines.

PayMaya became the first fintech company to support the BSP in its effort to accelerate digital payments through the launch of QR Ph for merchants.

With PayMaya’s rollout of QR Ph to its merchant partners, businesses can easily accept cashless and contactless payments not just from a PayMaya wallet user but also from any accountholder of QR Ph participating banks and other e-wallets.

“As we conquer the new normal, QR Ph for retail payments will surely get more businesses – from micro and small enterprises to the largest merchants – to go digital as more Filipinos can now easily and safely do interoperable digital payments using their mobile phones,” Baidwan said.

As a participating institution, PayMaya is rolling out the QR Ph standard to its more than 116,000 merchant partners using its payment devices, gateway and QR displays.