Visa study: More Filipinos start to adopt digital payments

With the increasing presence of cashless technology in the Philippines, more Filipinos have begun to realize its convenience compared to using cash.

Visa payment

In the latest Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study presented on July 26, it showed 70 percent of the 500 respondents said they have gone cashless for at least a few days. Convenience and safety, recording 58 percent and 47 percent, respectively, were the major factors driving this behavior.

The study in PH

Stuart Tomlinson, Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam, lauded this report and said this only signaled Filipinos' readiness to fully embrace the Philippines as a cashless society. This also supported the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' vision to increase cashless payments to 20 percent from the current 1 percent by 2020.

Clearly, Filipinos are seeing the benefits of electronic payments in their lives, and this leads to a change in behavior, where they become confident in leading a digital lifestyle, he said. 

The official added more Filipinos also prefer to use their cards when purchasing, up 15 percent from a year ago. 

Filipino shoppers also rose to 92 percent last year from the 70 percent recorded in 2016. Utility bills, fashion, travel, and beauty products were the top categories in online shopping, the report said.

Online shopping is clearly a popular pastime for Filipinos. Besides spending more time shopping onlie, they are also buying more, Tomlinson added. 

According to the study, 71 percent are aware of contactless payment technology, using cards and smartphones, while 69 percent showed interest to use the technology over cash. 

Visa recently partnered with retail giant SM for contactless payment. Telco firms PLDT and Globe Telecom have also rolled out their quick response (QR) code system to more merchants nationwide.

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