More Filipinos now prefer e-wallets over cards: Visa

MANILA — Filipinos have shown increased reliance on cashless payments in 2022 as it has become more convenient and easier to use, Visa Country Manager for the Philippines and Guam Jeff Navarro said on Wednesday.

According to the Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 2023, 7 in 10 consumers prefer making payments with their mobile wallets instead of cards. 

Fifty percent of consumers also carried less cash in 2022 as consumers increasingly opting for cashless payments such as mobile wallet tranfers or QR code payment. Also covered are contactless payments utilizing debit or credit cards., the VISA study showed. 

Reasons provided by survey respondents for this shift include speed, convenience, and incentives such as cash back rewards or exclusive discounts.

"We see there's momentum now for Philippine consumer shifting to cashless. We see a decreased reliance on cash in terms of payment and Filipinos are more open in terms of accepting and embracing cashless payments available to them," Navarro told ANC. 

At least 82 percent of consumers have attempted to go cashless in 2022, and the growth is seen across different generational bands, he said.

The study also revealed a decline in the frequency of cash payments from 7.8 for every 10 purchases in 2021, to 6.4 for every 10 in 2022.

“We see in terms of reliance on the use of cash, it's decreasing and embracing the cashless option. The confidence in going cashless is there," he said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has been pushing for the use of digital or cashless payments. 

Under the BSP Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap, it aims to convert 50 percent of retail payments into digital and onboard 70 percent of adult Filipinos into the formal financial system by the end of 2023. 

To achieve this the BSP has multiple initiatives including the ‘Paleng-QR’ program where QR code payments are made available in wet markets and public transport systems as well as its earlier InstaPay and PesoNet drive.

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- with reports from Michelle Ong and Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News