9 in 10 Pinoys use fintech apps in transactions

MANILA, Philippines — Nine out of 10 Filipinos are using financial technology (fintech) applications in their everyday transactions, cementing the need to make it more secure and convenient to the public.

Latest survey of high-impact research firm Capstone-Intel Corp. showed that 90 percent of Filipinos are utilizing fintech apps to transact on a day-to-day basis.

Among these include GCash where 94 percent of the respondents claim they have and are using the mobile payment service.

It was followed by Maya with 39 percent, ShopeePay (26 percent), bank applications (18 percent), GrabPay (eight percent), and other fintech applications (five percent).

Only two percent are not using any fintech application.

Capstone-Intel Research and Publications director Ella Domingo-Coronel maintained that there is a need to build a safer fintech infrastructure in the country as more Filipinos embrace digital financing.

While fintech apps are mostly privately-owned, Domingo-Coronel said the government still needs to step up in ensuring its safe regulation and enhanced safety for Filipino consumers.

“Even ‘sari-sari’ stores now have a digital financing option for their customers. This means that the accessibility and availability are there,” Domingo-Coronel said.

She noted that the current state of the country’s fintech still needs to be popularized across all demographics, normalizing the usage of digital financing in both public and private transactions.

This as Filipinos, from time to time, are still complaining about the inconvenience of online financing including the sluggish performance of some applications, prevalent maintenance, and online scams.

“We still have to promote the utilization of digital financing in the Philippines in order to weaken the negative outlook of the public and normalize the usage to amplify public confidence,” Domingo-Coronel said.

“Now that we are back to the usual setting, it is high time that we capitalize on this because not only does it save the time of the consumers, the digital era is already here and we have to keep up with the demands of the changing financial and economic environment,” she said.