Digital Payments Hit Record 30% Growth in 2021
Last year, the volume of merchant payments increased by 43.8 percent, while P2P remittances grew by 268.6 percent.
In light of the growing prevalence of digital financial transactions due to the pandemic, the share of digital payments to total retail payments volume in the Philippines rose to 30.3% in 2021 from 20.1% in 2020, according to the latest e-payments data of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
According to the BSP, the value of digital payments represented 44.1 % in 2021, up from the 26.8 percent recorded a year earlier.
This is indicative of BSP’s goal to increase digital payments’ current contribution to the total retail payment transaction in the Philippines.
“The latest results show we are closer to meeting our objective of converting at least 50 percent of retail payment transactions to digital form by the end of 2023, under the BSP Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap,” said BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla.
Furthermore, BSP mentioned that the use of high-frequency, low value retail transactions—which includes merchant payments, peer-to-peer (P2P) remittances, and business payments of salaries and wages to employees—fueled the overall growth of digital payments.
Last year, the volume of merchant payments increased by 43.8 percent, while P2P remittances grew by 268.6 percent.
Business payments of salaries and wages, at the same time, grew by 170.2 percent. This indicates that for salary disbursements, businesses are transitioning from cash to digital channels, such as electronic fund transfers to bank or e-money accounts.
Moreover, the significant rise in the use of account-to-account electronic fund transfers could be seen as a result of expanding access to transaction accounts and the shifting preference of consumers toward the use of digital modes for payments.
“This capability for digital transactions should be within reach of every Filipino in our increasingly digital economy,” the Governor noted, as the country shifts to safer and more convenient financial transactions during the pandemic.
“Hence, the BSP, with the support of the payments industry led by the Philippine Payments Management, Inc., continues to promote a vibrant and inclusive digital payments ecosystem where every Filipino can actively participate and enjoy its benefits,” he added.
This article is published on BitPinas: Digital Payments Hit Record 30% Growth in 2021
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