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Philippines hits target 20% payments via digital means
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines successfully raised the share of digital payments to 20 percent of retail transactions last year from only one percent seven years ago amid the shift in consumer behavior due to the quarantine measures brought about by the global health pandemic, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan said during the general membership meeting of the FintechAlliance.ph the target of raising the share of digital payments to about 20 percent from one percent in 2013 when the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) was launched in 2015 was achieved last year.
“Indications show us that we may have come close or even hit the 20 percent target. We are just reviewing the model and the results to make sure that it is accurate and a good estimate of what is out there,” Tangonan said.
Based on the latest country diagnostic “The State of Digital Payments in the Philippines” released by the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) in December 2019, the share of digital payments in the country was placed at 10 percent by volume and 20 percent by value in 2018.
This was higher compared to the one percent share in terms of volume and 12 percent in terms of value in 2013.
As of 2018, 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.
The launch of the NRPS more than five years ago paved the way for the introduction of electronic fund transfers via PESONet and InstaPay that saw huge jump in volumes and value due to mobility restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The volume of PESONet transactions surged by 1,582 percent while the value of transactions increased to P366.6 billion as of end-2020. Likewise, the volume of InstaPay transactions rose exponentially to 30.6 million in 2020 from just 1,740 in April 2018, while value reached P176.5 billion from P20 million.
Under the latest Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno has committed to further raise share of digital payments to at least 50 percent of total volume of retail transactions and onboard 70 percent of Filipino adults to have formal financial accounts by 2023.
“We aim to hit two birds with one stone. We are securing the digitalization of payments and increasing the number of Filipinos with access to financial services,” Tangonan added.
Tangonan urged members of FintechAliiance.ph to leverage their technology and expertise to bring digitalization even closer to the remote areas of the countries.
Aside from expanding their reach, Tangonan urged fintechs to participate actively in the digital payment transformation roll out through new digital payments services.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2021/03/25/2086703/philippines-hits-target-20-payments-digital-means