PH central bank eyes direct debit, digital banks to drive digital payments ambitions

This follows Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ earlier roll-out of QR payments and surge in e-wallet use 

- 

The Philippines is seeking to ride the momentum of its recent digital payments surge and further widen the adoption of digital payment services, floating plans to roll-out request-to-pay services and a direct debit facility.

The country is currently on track to meet its goal of converting 50% of retail payments into digital form by 2023, says Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan, of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). This, he said, was thanks to the “explosive” adoption of e-wallets and QR code payments.

As of 2022, the share of retail payments value attributed to digital transactions surged to 42.1%, climbing from just 31.3% in 2021.

With the goal basically in the bag, Tangonan–who heads BSP’s Payments and Currency Management Sector (PCMS)shared that the BSP is now looking to further revolutionise local banking and financial services through two fronts: cash agents and digital banking.