BSP’s digital payments program gains ground
Three more cities are actively adopting digital payments through the “Paleng-QR Ph Plus” program, with Naga City in Camarines Sur and Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu having rolled out the initiative earlier this month and Pasig City following suit this week.
The campaign is particularly aimed at promoting payments using non-physical money in public markets and among local tricycle operators.
Spearheaded by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of Interior and Local Government, Paleng-QR Ph Plus is a nationwide initiative that promotes digital payments in public markets, transportation hubs and other business establishments.
BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the program helps market vendors and transport drivers open transaction accounts, making payment transactions more convenient and cost-effective through the use of QR Ph codes.
“Truly, the benefits of Paleng-QR Ph Plus create ripples of progress for the region and the entire economy,” Puyat said.
She noted that the city government of Lapu-Lapu was the first in the country to have passed an ordinance that supports the BSP’s National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2022-2028.
The BSP also has a goal of transforming half of the volume of payments in the country into digital form and to bring 70 percent of Filipino adults into the formal financial system by this year under the Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023.
In Lapu-Lapu City, the local government wants to onboard at least 80 percent of 700 vendors or 560 market stall owners and at least 50 percent or 3,241 out of 6,481 transport group members.
Paleng-QR Ph Plus also covers now other business establishments, merchants, business owners and transport service providers.
Financial service providers also supported the launch by assisting market vendors and public transport drivers in opening their accounts, printing quick response (QR) codes and attending to customer service needs. Participating organizations include Coins.ph, GCash, Landbank of the Philippines, Maya, Philippine National Bank, Philippine Savings Bank and UnionBank of the Philippines.
Lapu-Lapu is the fifth city in the Philippines to launch the Paleng-QR Ph Plus program following the cities of Baguio, Davao, Tagbilaran and Naga.
Meanwhile, Naga City was the first in Southern Luzon to launch the Paleng-QR Ph Plus program on Feb. 10 or a week ahead of Lapu-Lapu City. This followed the program’s launch in the cities of Baguio and Davao last year and Tagbilaran in January.
Puyat said that as vendors and public utility drivers get into the program, they will be granted access to credit and financing from banks and formal lending institutions. The next to launch Paleng-QR PH Plus is Pasig City at its Mega Market, as scheduled on March 3.
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