Philippine making great strides in digital payments — BSP

MANILA, Philippines — The share of electronic payments increased to 10 percent in terms of volume and to 20 percent in terms of value as of end-2018, from the previous level of only one percent more than five years ago, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno reported yesterday.

“The Philippines has made great strides in terms of digital payments,” Diokno said, citing The Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) said in its latest country diagnostic titled “The State of Digital Payments in the Philippines” the country’s progress in the last five years is outstanding.

“The Philippines’ progress in the last five years is outstanding. “We estimate the share of digital payments to be 10 percent by volume and 20 percent by value in 2018,” the United Nations led group said in the report.This translates to about 470 to 490 million digital payment transactions every month in the Philippines, or 20 times the estimated total monthly volume of digital transactions equivalent to 25 million in 2013.

This phenomenal increase is driven by a surge in digital payments made by individuals that increased significantly to 12 percent, up from less than one percent in 2013.

About 85 percent of the 470 to 490 million digital payments per month in 2018 were made by individuals, followed by businesses with 12 percent and the government with three percent.

On the other hand, the value of e-payments rose to 20 percent in end-2018 from eight percent in 2013.

“This development affirms that significant progress is attainable through effective cooperation as we harmonize our efforts towards promoting a cash-lite from a cash-heavy economy,” Diokno said.

He added immense potential to foster financial inclusion, the rising usage of e-payments is seen to provide robust support to our shared goal of promoting inclusive economic growth.

The BSP chief said the share of e-payments to total transactions in terms of value could hit 30 percent by 2020.

This, he added, could easily be achieved with the launch of the Government e-Payments (EGov Pay) facility and the full adoption of the national QR Code standard (QR Ph) by July next year.

“These efforts are aimed at bringing the country closer to our ultimate objective of having an inclusive payment system where no adult Filipino is left behind in terms of access to payment and other basic financial services,” Diokno said.

The BSP launched the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) in December 2015 to raise the share of cashless transactions to 20 percent by 2020 from the previous level of one percent in 2013.