Pinoys spending more time on e-wallet apps

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos allocated more of their time using electronic wallet applications last year as the country rides on the wave of digital services.

A recent analysis conducted by consumer finance firm Digido showed there were over 58 million active users in the Philippines who spent a total of 4.4 million hours using e-wallet applications in 2022.

The analysis covered 14 firms operating in the Philippines that have applications both in iOs and Android.

These are e-wallets owned or operated by companies possessing both electronic money issuer and operator of payment system licenses or those operated in partnership with a company that has such licenses.

Digido said the companies have a total of 114.4 million unique downloads as of end-December, representing 20 percent of the total downloads from business and finance categories across all devices and platforms.

For 2022, the total number of unique downloads among e-wallets grew by 31 percent or about 26.7 million.

On average, Digido said e-wallet users last year visited at least one of the mobile apps about 16 times per month.

Digido also estimated that the total number of accounts of the 14 examined apps could reach 81 million users by 2025.

Such growth is attributed to the expected rise in the country’s population, especially those aged 15 years and above.

Estimates from the United Nations show that Filipinos aged 15 and above could reach some 85.4 million in two years’ time.

“Second, despite the global recession, the current economy of the country is in its growth stage,” Digido said.

“Third, the global demand for electronic money is growing. From 2023 to 2025, the global volume of digital payments will grow by 42.6 percent, and the number of users by 18.6 percent,” it said.

Digido is part of the larger Singapore-based Robocash Group, which is servicing clients across key markets in Europe and Asia.