The share of monthly digital payments to total monthly retail payments volume in the Philippines rose to 42.1 percent in 2022 from 30.3 percent in 2021, according to the latest e-payments data of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
“The latest results show that we are steering in the right direction as we move closer to our goal of converting at least half of total retail payments volume into digital form by the end of 2023 under the BSP Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap,” said BSP Governor Felipe Medalla.
Top contributors for the increase are merchant payments, person-to-person (P2P) transfers, and salaries and wage payments.
Merchant payments and P2P transfers were further digitalized by 35.6 percent and 91.2 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, it is also noteworthy that salaries and wage payments grew by 41.1 percent, from just 32.0 million transactions in 2021.
These results are aligned with the latest BSP Financial Inclusion Survey Report, which found a significant increase in ownership of transaction accounts, majority of which are e-money accounts, and that more of these accounts are now being used for payments.
“The numbers tell us that the deliberate reforms and initiatives we have been undertaking are responsive to the shifting needs of the public towards more efficient payments services.
Since the pandemic, which broadened digital payments adoption and acceptance, the upward trajectory of digital payment usage has been sustained. We need to carry on to maintain this trend, focusing on the overall value-adding experience of using digital payments” the Governor added.
Over the last five years, the country witnessed a growth in the momentum in the use of digital payments, indicating the shifting preference of more Filipino consumers from traditional cash-based payments into digital modes of payments given their safety, speed and convenience.
The most recent measurement study reveals that for 2022, the share in terms of volume of digital payments over total retail payments considerably grew to 42.1 percent, supported by an increase of 611.7 million retail payments transactions from the previous year.
Meanwhile, the share in terms of value of digital payments over total retail payments stand at 40.1 percent amounting to $78 billion.
The report showed that payments made by persons (P2X) remain to have the largest share of the total retail payments volume at 68.6 percent, followed by payments made by the businesses (B2X) at 30.3, then payments made by the government (G2X) at 1.1 percent.
Among the three types of payors, the government remains to be the most cashlite as 95.9 percent of its payments are done digitally. Followed by payments made by persons, where 55.5 percent are already in digital form, and finally, the payments made by businesses (B2X) at 9.8 percent digital.
In terms of value, payments to businesses continue to dominate the high-value transactions, representing 55.6 percent of the total value of retail payments transactions in 2022, followed by P2X payments at 38.7 percent, and G2X payments at 5.6 percent.
The digitalization trend comes amid the BSP’s efforts to pursue a payments and settlements system that is efficient, safe, and inclusive.
On efficiency, the BSP has rolled out initiatives that make electronic fund transfers easy.
An example is the establishment of the two interoperable clearing houses PESONet and InstaPay.
Through these platforms, a person may electronically transfer funds to an intended recipient even if their accounts are lodged with different banks or e-wallets.
BSP also created digital payment streams EGov Pay and QR Ph.
The EGov Pay is an electronic payment facility that allows individuals and businesses to digitally pay taxes, licenses, permits, and other obligations to the government.
QR Ph, the national QR (quick response)code standard, provides an interoperable platform that allows QR-enabled fund transfers even if the sender and the recipient have accounts from different banks or e-wallets.
