DTI taps BancNet, DBP as e-payment partners

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Trade and Industry has tapped BancNet and the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) as online payment or e-payment partners for its Enhanced Business Name Registration System, which aims to speed up delivery of the service and make it more convenient.

Starting May 31, those wanting to open a new enterprise can get their prospective business name registered and also pay for the service online, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said at the signing of a memorandum of agreement among the partners.

Domingo said he expected the convenience provided by the e-payment scheme to help boost the number of business name registrations as well as the percentage of online transactions.

DTI registers about 300,000 business names yearly and about 5 percent of these registrations are online, with the payments still being done at DTI offices.

Domingo said that he expects other public services to soon be payable online, especially those that have to do with ease of doing business as well as regular transactions such as automotive registration and tax payments.

“That will save the public a lot of time and effort since they no longer have to commute to and from government offices and wait in line. They can transact in a matter of minutes in the comfort of their homes, using secure online portals,” Domingo said.

BancNet president Robert P. Plas said that e-payments would be extended to 20 million ATM cardholders from 26 members composed of rural, savings, and universal banks that accept online banking transactions.

BancNet group can readily fill the payment and settlement needs of both private and government institutions, Blas said.

“These include the Social Security System, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Philhealth and today the DTI who have partnered with us on this payment gateway,” he said.

DBP president and CEO Gil Buenaventura said the state-owned bank, in serving as the depository bank for the e-payment facility, seeks to encourage the opening of more micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Up to 98 percent of registered businesses in the country are MSMEs, Buenaventura said.

As such, the growth of the MSME sector is seen to alleviate poverty and spread economic growth outside urban centers.—Riza T. Olchondra