More Filipinos are going cashless

Visa Study

Visa, Inc., the world’s leader in digital payments, said that Filipinos are becoming more confident in going cashless in their payment transactions.

Based on the results of the latest Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study, almost seven in 10 Filipinos expressed confidence to go cashless for a day and more than half think they can use only electronic payments for up to three days.

The survey also showed that 70 percent of respondents have gone cashless for at least a few days.

Convenience (58 percent) and safety (47 percent) are the main drivers for this digital behavior.

“Technology has transformed the way consumers shop and pay for their purchases. 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," said Stuart Tomlinson, Visa Country Manager for the Philippines and Guam.

"In the country, we are seeing more Filipinos using digital payments and Filipinos are spending about 15 percent more on their cards as compared to a year ago,” he added.

In 2017, Filipinos who shopped online have increased from 71 percent to 92 percent.

Consumers cite utility bills or fines (59 percent) as one of the top categories paid online, followed by fashion (43 percent), travel (40 percent), and beauty products (36 percent).

“Online shopping is clearly a popular pastime for Filipinos. Besides spending more time shopping online, they are also buying more. In fact, based on our data, they are spending almost 30 percent more on online purchases as compared to a year ago. Currently, online shopping contributes about one-fifth of total spend on Visa cards in the Philippines,” added Tomlinson.

Meanwhile, on-demand services – in the form of online websites or mobile applications — are gaining preference as well. The study suggests that more respondents use digital platforms to book a ride (55 percent), order food (56 percent), and stream content (42 percent).

Respondents cite convenience, comfort, and wider options to choose from as top reasons why they use on demand services.

Findings from the research also examine the banking attitudes of Filipinos.

Data shows that 65 percent check their accounts once a week using digital platforms rather than going to a physical bank branch.

Among those surveyed, 51 percent say using digital platforms helps them save time.

“Today, we see great progress in contactless payments usage by Filipinos and we have to thank our issuers and merchant partners for working alongside us to transform the payments experience in the Philippines. This year, we partnered with key merchants such as SM Group to enable contactless payments at all their retail outlets in the country and this has given us a strong uplift in our contactless payments growth. Our data shows that the number of contactless payments in the Philippines have doubledquarter on quarter. Our objective is to bring contactless payments to more merchants in this country, and educate our community about this seamless and convenient way to pay,” said Tomlinson. (MBM)