Bangko Sentral unveils digital payments roadmap

MANILA - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Monday said it wants to raise the share of digital payments to 50 percent of all retail transactions and expand financial inclusion to 70 percent of Filipino adults by 2023.

The BSP set the goals as it unveiled its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023.

"The roadmap charts the BSP’s current initiatives and strategy in advancing an efficient, inclusive, safe and secure digital payments ecosystem," the BSP said.

It also seeks to develop more innovative digital financial products and services for consumers, via a digital ID--the Philippine Identification System or PhilSys, the central bank said.

These are seen transforming the cash-heavy Philippine economy into a cash-lite economy, the BSP said.

“Our thrust to promote digitalization of payments is also strategically geared towards furthering financial inclusion as we view the two to be mutually reinforcing: They go hand in hand, with each one enabling the other,” said BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno.

More Filipinos have been using digital payments amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the BSP said.

PESONet and InstaPay transactions remarkably increased by 74 percent, from 18.4 million prior to the COVID-19 lockdown to 32.1 million during the enhanced community quarantine, the BSP said.

E-money issuers such as GCash and Paymaya also reported record-high increases in their number of transactions and account users during the quarantine period, the central bank said.

"These developments indicate that there is a growing consumer sentiment to shift towards more digital payments," the BSP said.