MANILA, Philippines -The Monetary Board has given banks that use QR (quick response) codes for their payments services up to July 1 to switch to the interoperable “QR Ph” standard, as part of efforts to convince and enable more Filipinos to use this digital mode of payment.
The MB issued Memorandum No. M-2023-005 dated Feb. 23, which says that such banks must have disabled and withdrawn from public access their non-interoperable QR codes when the second semester of 2023 starts.
The memo implements Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Circular No. 1055 that was issued in October 2019 and mandates the adoption among payment service providers (PSPs) of the national QR code standard, dubbed QR Ph.
This move is aimed at transforming the disparate QR-driven payment services into interoperable payment solutions, eliminating the need for merchants and customers to maintain several accounts and display numerous QR codes.
In accordance with the 2019 circular, the Philippine Payments Management Inc., which is the payment system management body accredited by the BSP, developed QR Ph.
MB chair and BSP Governor Felipe Medalla said that with the active development of the banking industry in payment services market, it is timely for the BSP to ensure that QR-enabled payments are supported through the interoperable QR Ph standard,
“This way, PSPs and their clients would be able to fully realize the benefits brought by the convenience, speed and ease of using QR Ph,” Medalla said in a statement.
BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan said the QR Ph standard is currently being adopted for two high-impact use cases in the country—person-to-person and person-to-merchant payments.
“These transactions form the bulk of the average total retail payments made by Filipinos in a month,” Tangonan said. “Standardizing QR codes enhances customer and merchant experience, leading to greater usage of digital payments.”
In partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the BSP has been working with local government units to encourage the adoption of QR codes among market vendors and public transportation operators through the “Paleng-QR” campaign.INQ