More LGUs urged to go digital

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is pushing more city and local governments to adopt digital cash payments in public markets and transportation services as part of efforts to transform the country into a cash-lite from a cash-heavy economy.

BSP Governor Felipe Medalla recently led the launch of the Paleng-QR Ph in Davao City with Mayor Sebastian Duterte at the Bankerohan Public Market.

Medalla went to Davao to launch the Paleng-QR Ph program in Davao City, which the BSP Chief said would “hopefully be the launchpad [to expand cashless payments] for the rest of Mindanao. We have to start where the chances of success are greatest.”

Davao City is the second local government unit to formally launch the Paleng-QR Ph program, following Baguio City last August, which was pushed by the BSP, as well as the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The city referred to as the Crown Jewel of Mindanao has adopted Paleng-QR Ph, which enables and promotes the use of digital payments in public markets and public transportation services using the QR Ph technology, the national standard for quick response codes.

The central bank remains committed to supporting LGUs for the successful nationwide implementation of the Paleng-QR Ph program, in line with its goal of building an efficient and safe digital payments ecosystem in the country.

BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, who leads the nationwide Paleng-QR Ph program, expressed appreciation as well for the LGU’s support to the initiative.

Recognizing that public market purchases and transportation fares are part of most Filipinos’ everyday lives, Paleng-QR Ph aims to make digital finance more accessible to a wider and more inclusive sector of society.

Several financial service providers were also present to provide customer assistance booths and to assist market vendors and public utility vehicle drivers in opening transaction accounts and printing quick response codes.

Together with the BSP, Davao City plans to conduct Paleng-QR Ph onboarding activities, such as public information campaigns on digital financial literacy and cybersecurity, to encourage vendors from the city’s other public and private markets to adopt cashless payments.

Under its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap, the BSP aims to shift 50 percent of total retail payments to electronic channels and increase the number of Filipino adults with bank accounts to 70 percent by 2023.

With the COVID-19 restrictions serving as catalyst, the share of digital payments to total retail transactions increased to 30.3 percent last year from the previous year’s 20.1 percent, while the number of banked Filipino adults almost doubled to 56 percent in 2021 from 29 percent in 2019.

Meanwhile, the BSP Mindanao Regional Office also conducted a currency exchange service in Davao City, allowing e-wallet users to exchange their unfit banknotes and coins for e-money.

The BSP’s “e-Cash-in Points” initiative encourages the public to bring in banknotes and coins that are deemed unfit for circulation in exchange for their e-money equivalent, which will be credited to their preferred e-wallets.

The program is in line with BSP’s broader efforts to protect the integrity of Philippine currency while promoting the digitalization of financial transactions.