Filipinos continue to trust electronic wallets (e-wallets) despite issues encountered on its use.
Nomura Research Institute (NRI) Singapore Pte. Ltd. Manila Branch said of the 477 e-wallet users in Metro Manila who answered a survey it conducted, 41 percent have encountered issues in the last six months.
Of those who encountered issues, 95 percent of them expressed trust on e-wallets.
All survey respondents have expressed their intention to continue using e-wallet in the next six months.
Technical challenges topped the issues encountered with 53 percent of respondents noting they have experienced multiple and unplanned downtimes, while 44 percent and 38 percent of the respondents expressed difficulty in receiving one-time passwords (OTP) and in opening the app, respectively.
Integration challenges were also noted such as delays in cash in or cash out with 34 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
Interestingly, a smaller proportion of respondents encountered security concerns like spam at 31 percent, unauthorized transactions at 13 percent, and loss/theft of money at 16 percent.
NRI-Singapore-Manila Branch said the use of e-wallet in the Philippines is largely driven out of necessity and convenience, particularly for low-value everyday transactions, including sending money to family and friends (87 percent), sending money to merchants for online purchases (83 percent) and as an alternative to carrying cash for everyday purchases (61 percent).
The survey said the value of e-wallet transactions remains low between P1,000 and P5,000 due to the transaction limits imposed by e-wallet operators. Thus the value of money stored in e-wallet are small.
The survey also showed 57 percent of the respondents feel insufficient support from the government noting, difficulty in filing complaints against e-wallet operators (71 percent) and fraudulent activities and 75 percent of those with issues encountered Consumers are expressing the growing preference for stronger security measures from e-wallet platforms, indicating an anticipation for more robust financial loss protection. – Irma Isip
