ZAMBOANGA CITY, October 29 (PIA) – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) targets at least fifty percent of retailers and merchants to utilize digital payments by 2023, moving towards cashless transactions. At the same time, the BSP aims to have at least 70 percent of the adult population to have bank accounts or e-wallet accounts to be capable of making online payments.
During the closing ceremony for the National Statistics Month (NSM) this morning (October 29) Atty. Tricia Defante-Andres, BSP Bank Officer V said the BSP has drafted the Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023 aimed to “harmonize efforts towards building an inclusive and robust digital payment ecosystem in the country”.
“Part of the roadmap is to create a want, or a demand for digital payments,” Atty. Defante-Andres said, which is becoming more evident now as more and more institutions are making use of digital payment facilities.
She explained that priority use cases for digital payment include merchant, utility, supplier, remittances and social benefits. In time, digital payments will be made applicable to tricycle drivers, sari-sari stores and other informal merchants.
The BSP is pushing for digital payments to be made through Quick Response (QR) codes. “Using QR technology, small entrepreneurs need not invest in costly equipment such as point of sale (POS) terminals to capture electronic data. Instead, merchants only need to print the QE code that their respective payment service providers will generate for them, display these codes, and obtain payments by simply asking their customers to scan the codes,” reads the FAQs on QR Ph Person-to-Merchant Payments (P2M).
Internet connectivity, a basic element for the transition towards digital payment, especially in the far-flung areas is seen as another area of concern, Atty. Defante-Andres said. However, this concern will also be addressed with the help of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) as part of the roadmap.
Atty. Defante-Andres added that P2M methods are secure and safe, however the users must also be discerning to ensure the security of their online transactions.
More information about digital payments may be accessed through the BSP’s website at http://www.bps.gov.ph. (RVC/EDT/DIS/PIA9-Zamboanga City, photos courtesy https://www.facebook.com/bspzamboanga)
