4 of 10 Pinoys now use plastic money

MANILA, Philippines - Four out of every 10 Filipino consumers carry more payment cards in their wallets than five years ago, with almost half of survey respondents wanting to do away with cash from everyday life altogether, according to Visa’s latest payment behavior study.

Payment cards, also known as plastic money, include credit, debit and post paid cards.

Aside from financial institutions like banks, non-financial sectors are also issuing payment cards such as government, telecommunications, information technology, merchants, business establishments, supermarkets, downstream oil companies like gas stations, and the like.

The Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 20141 highlights the growing trend of payment card usage across Asia-Pacific markets.

More than 2,000 respondents from Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand were surveyed on their spending behaviors throughout the region.  

Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam Stuart Tomlinson said that the study shows that consumers in the region are seeing the value in using payment cards instead of cash.

The Philippines, in particular, sees 64 percent of its people carrying more than one credit card with them.

“This trend will help develop the electronic payment industry in the country, which in turn will provide Filipinos with convenient payment technologies through their payment cards,” Tomlinson added.

The study reveals that presently, an average Filipino has at least one debit card, one credit card, and one ATM card available in their wallets.

The attitude towards using payment cards is a positive sign for the country’s electronic payments landscape.

The study also shows that on average a Filipino carries about P1,500. When asked if they are also willing to eliminate cash in their wallets, almost half of the study’s respondents agreed (46 percent).

Young adults, between the ages of 18 to 24, display the strongest desire to eliminate cash from their everyday life (55 percent of those surveyed), yet they are the most cash-dependent.

Electronic payment usage is also seen higher among the elder age groups, with about four out of 10 consumers (36 percent of those surveyed), aged between 45 years old and above preferring to use their payment cards over cash.

Filipinos can benefit from displace or replacing cash to plastic money in their everyday life.

“Not only can they enjoy more convenient and secure transaction, the increased adoption of payment cards in the Philippines will enable local businesses to enjoy more efficient operations,” the Visa country head said.

This will allow financial institutions and merchants to provide better services and seamless payment experiences to Filipino consumers,” added Tomlinson.

Meanwhile, a global study is forecasting that electronic bills payments will reach 20 billion by end 2014.

According to Juniper Research, household bills payments through personal computers (PCs), tablets and smart mobile phones will grow by roughly 16 percent to over 20 billion.

The report shows that despite the higher numbers of mobile users making use of bill payment and presentment services, it was still the PC and tablet users that produced the higher transaction values.

Most analysts said users prefer larger screen platforms for purpose of banking and bill payments.

Digital banking users prefer the convenience and perceived security of the tablet or PC rather than the mobile phones. It also shows that the so-called Gen Y (age group between 18 to 35 years) prefer banks that offer innovative and exciting new services.