BSP, DA onboard farmers, agri producers in QR program

MANILA, Philippines — The government is onboarding farmers and other agricultural producers as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) continues to ramp up initiatives for its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office-Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-RFO-CAR) to onboard farmers and other agricultural players to the Paleng-QR Ph Plus program.

The program promotes QR (quick response) 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.

BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the central bank looks forward to the more widespread adoption of QR Ph among farmers who play major roles in the agricultural and public markets supply chains.

Together with market vendors, Puyat said farmers are expected to benefit from the convenience and safety of using QR technology.

Puyat and DA-RFO-CAR Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Division chief Susan Balanza witnessed BSP North Luzon regional director Noel Neil Malimban and DA-RFO-CAR regional executive director Cameron Odsey sign the MOA.

The MOA outlines financial education programs to be conducted by the BSP with a focus on the effective use of digital payments in business, financial services for micro and small enterprises, and consumer protection.

It expands the scope of Paleng-QR Ph participants from Baguio City’s public market vendors, public transport drivers, and other merchants who joined the program in August last year, to now include the region’s agricultural supply chain players.

In line with its mission of empowering the farming communities in the region, Odsey said the collaboration with the BSP would provide an opportunity for farmers to access digital services and make them more adept and responsive to modern technology.

Under its 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.

The share of digital payments to total retail transactions increased to 30.3 percent in 2021 from 20.1 percent, while the number of banked Filipino adults almost doubled to 56 percent in 2021 from 29 percent in 2019 due to strict COVID quarantine and lockdown protocols.