Diokno pushes digital payment system

CEBU, Philippines —  The Financial Inclusion Steering Committee (FISC) chaired by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno announced to promote digital payment system, as Filipinos are learning to embrace this platform.

During the 9th FISC meeting held virtually early this month, Diokno emphasized the importance of digital payments in the country’s financial inclusion.

FISC agreed to promote digital payments as an imperative for financial inclusion in the new economy, and to collectively shepherd statutory issuances that can liberalize the use of satellite technology and services to address the challenges in internet connectivity.

The FISC meeting, attended by high level representatives from 20 government agencies, was a testament to the whole of government approach being employed to drive financial inclusion in the country.

  To further catalyze broader adoption of digital payments among consumers and businesses, the BSP provided an overview of the country’s digital payments landscape and presented the BSP Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap (DPTR). It outlines the BSP’s 3-year priority policy initiatives, including open banking, which aims to shift at least 50 percent of retail payment transactions to digital, and to have at least 70 percent of adult Filipinos owning and using a bank account or e-wallet by 2023.

  The FISC discussed other initiatives such as harmonization of government efforts to digitize collections and disbursements, payment of private sector wages through transaction accounts, and digitization of the distribution of benefits under the Social Amelioration Program.

  The FISC also welcomed its newest member, the Philippine Commission on Women, the primary policy and coordinating body on gender equality.

FISC sees gender as an important dimension of financial inclusion particularly in promoting access and usage of digital financial services for various population segments.

  According to Diokno, the FISC is committed to enable the delivery of welfare-enhancing and digitally-accessible financial services to all Filipinos.

  Earlier, leading mobile wallet GCash said it targets to hit one trillion transactions by end of 2020.

The Ayala-led GCash, through the company’s chief customer officer Winsley Bangit, expressed confidence of hitting its goal as the upswing trend of Filipinos getting used of mobile wallet is evident. In fact, it grew 900 percent over the course of lockdown.

In July this year, GCash breached P100 billion in terms of transaction value for the month. This translates to 280 percent increase in comparison to the same period last year with only P28 billion worth of transactions.