BSP ramps up push for digital payments

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is pushing digital payments in public markets and transportation services in more cities and municipalities nationwide to achieve its goal of shifting half of total retail transactions to electronic channels.

BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the central bank continues the aggressive rollout of the Paleng-QR Ph Plus program that enables public markets, transport terminals, and business establishments to accept digital payments for transactions.

“This will help widen the access of vendors and public utility drivers to our financial system through digital payments. As they get onboarded, this will grant them access to credit and financing from banks and formal lending institutions,” Puyat said.

Puyat led the launch of the program in Naga City, the first local government unit (LGU) in South Luzon and the fourth in the Philippines to launch the Paleng-QR Ph Plus program, following the cities of Baguio, Davao and Tagbilaran.

Paleng-QR Ph Plus promotes QR technology as a convenient, safe, and efficient payment solution to build the collective financial resilience of more Filipinos and help them maximize economic opportunities through their inclusion in the formal financial system.

The BSP continues to support LGUs in the implementation of the Paleng-QR Ph Plus program to expand digital payment acceptance and account ownership in the Philippines.

Puyat lauded Naga City’s strong support for the BSP’s financial inclusion and digitalization agenda with the passage of an ordinance that provides incentives to the adoption of quick response (QR) payments among business owners, vendors and public transport operators.

Partners from the financial sector also participated in the program launch by providing customer assistance booths, QR code printouts, and information materials to the public. The partner organizations include the Asia United Bank, Banco de Oro Network Bank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Camalig Bank, Coins.ph, Development Bank of the Philippines, GCash, Land Bank of the Philippines, Maya, Metrobank, Philippine National Bank, PSBank, Queenbank, Rural Bank of Guinobatan and Veterans Bank.

In June last year, the BSP entered into a partnership with the Department of Interior and Local Government to encourage LGUs to promote the acceptance of digital payments in markets and transportation hubs across the country via the Paleng-QR Ph Plus.

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.