More Pinoys do buy now, pay later transactions

MANILA, Philippines — Nearly 50 percent of respondents in the Philippines are likely to adopt buy now, pay later (BNPL) services for future transactions, according to a survey from consumer research and data analytics company Milieu Insight.

The survey showed 48 percent of Filipino respondents are likely to use a BNPL service to purchase an item in the future.

Conducted to get perspectives on BNPL in Southeast Asia, the survey covered 500 respondents each in the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

BNPL allows consumers to purchase items immediately without having to pay the full amount at once.

Across the six Southeast Asian countries, 57 percent of respondents said they are likely to use BNPL for a future purchase.

The survey showed that 35 percent of respondents in the Philippines have used BNPL at least once, below the regional average of 41 percent.

In terms of the perception toward BNPL services, 19 percent of respondents in the Philippines indicated it to be very positive or somewhat positive, lower than the regional average of 39 percent.

Majority or 62 percent of the respondents in the Philippines have a neutral view on BNPL, while 20 percent said they see the service as somewhat negative or very negative.

For respondents in the Philippines, the key considerations when choosing installment services are getting a better discount off purchase (71 percent), cashback (61 percent) and installment flexibility (53 percent).

These were also cited as the top three considerations in selecting installment services across the region with better discount off purchase at 68 percent, cashback at 59 percent, and installment flexibility at 54 percent.

Asked about their preferred installment duration, 46 percent of Filipino respondents said they want to complete payments immediately.

The survey also showed that 13 percent of respondents in the Philippines would like to have payments completed in one month, while seven percent cited three months as their preferred duration to settle payments.

In Southeast Asia, 33 percent said they want to have payments completed immediately, while one in 10 respondents prefer to settle payments within three months.