DIGITAL TRANSACTIONS continued to surge in April as more consumers and businesses embrace online transactions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
This may allow the central bank to achieve its goal of transitioning into a cash-lite economy where more Filipinos are part of the banked population by 2023 much earlier, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said.
Data released by the BSP on Tuesday showed the combined PESONet and InstaPay transactions last month surged by more than four times (276%) by volume from a year earlier, and climbed 127% by value.
Under the National Retail Payment System of the BSP, PESONet is the electronic fund transfer service that handles batch fund transfers for amounts beyond 50,000 which is credited to the receiver’s end by the end of a banking day. Meanwhile, InstaPay is its retail counterpart which facilitates payments lower than P50,000 that can be transferred in real time.
“The preference of consumers for safety in their financial transactions, coupled with the readiness of the BSP-supervised financial institutions to offer digital payment choices that are safe, convenient, and affordable will continue to support the widespread use of digital payments,” the central bank said.
There are 82 BSP supervised-financial institutions that are participating in PESONet while 52 have enabled InstaPay for their fund transfers.
BSP data also showed the QR Ph person-to-person payments rose 23% and 38% by volume and value, respectively, compared to their levels in March.
The use case of person-to-merchant payments under QR Ph, or the National QR Code Standard, was launched in April. It is set to be fully implemented within the third quarter.
As online payments rise, Mr. Diokno expressed confidence that the central bank’s digitalization goals could be reached sooner.
The central bank targets to have 50% of the country’s payments done online, both in volume and in value, and for 70% of adult Filipinos to own a formal account with a financial institution by 2023 .
“Before the end of 2022, we will accomplish those goals,” he said in the Institute of International Finance (IIF) Asia Pacific Summit held in May.
DIGITAL BANKING
Meanwhile, more Filipinos are becoming aware and interested of digital banking services, but a gap remains as only 32% have actually tried using digital banking services, a separate study by Visa, Inc. found.
Based on the Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study, only 32% of respondents are currently service users of digital banking services.
“As more digital-based solutions and trends emerge in the market, Filipinos are more open to new innovations that make payments and banking more convenient, accessible and seamless,” Dan Wolbert, Visa Country Manager for the Philippines and Guam, said in a statement.
“There is opportunity in the country for traditional banks and new players to launch digital banking services in the country that will better serve the needs of underserved and underpenetrated segments,” he added.
The study found that Filipinos are interested in availing of services such as bills payments (84%), local money transfers (78%), deposits and withdrawals (76%), and local retail purchase payments (71%) through digital banks.
On the other hand, Filipinos prefer tapping services of traditional bank services for investments (52%), international transfers (48%), and loans (46%).
Based on the Visa study, 86% of Filipino respondents would leave their current banking services to digital banking services if the new bank provided better rewards. Meanwhile 85% said they will switch to a digital bank if they can benefit from lower costs for their banking transactions. — Luz Wendy T. Noble