Financial transactions in the digital world are increasing and were likely to turn the Philippines “cash-lite” by 2023, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno on Wednesday, Nov. 20.
At the launch of the eGov Pay and QR Ph, Diokno told reporters the BSP had updated an earlier target to capture 20 percent of total payments in the country through digital and electronic means in 2020 to 30 percent.
Asked where the Philippines stood at present, Diokno replied: “My guess is we’re now already at 30 percent.”
Diokno said initiatives under which transactions with government agencies can be paid online and through other digital means were boosting the BSP’s digital transformation program.
According to Diokno, the Philippines cannot be cashless yet by 2023 but EGov Pay and QR Ph will help the country become cash-lite four years from now.
“Right now, we are cash-heavy,” he said
“We still can’t project what will be the status of our economy [in the long-term but] I think a cashless society will be in a matter of 10 years and not within the next five years,” Diokno said.
The eGov Pay is an online facility through which customers can pay their taxes and other government fees via Land Bank of the Philippines’ Link.Biz portal, which accepts payments from deposit or electronic money accounts using PESONet.
While the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) were the only two agencies using eGov Pay at present, Diokno was optimistic that “all government agencies will be part of the system before 2023, if not sooner.”
The entry of a third telco player will address the need for faster internet that would facilitate speedier adoption of eGov Pay, according to Diokno.
Also, the rollout of the national ID system will facilitate use of eGov Pay even among local government units (LGUs), Diokno added. “My projection is within two years, 70-80 percent of Filipinos will already have their IDs.”
QR Ph was “the Philippines’ QR code standard based on the Europay-Mastercard-Visa (EMV) standard… [which] gives customers of participating banks and non-bank electronic money issuers a quick and safe method to pay, transfer to and receive funds from other bank and e-money accounts,” the BSP said in a statement.