Integrated cashless payment system needed

CEBU -- As much as retailers want to embrace cashless payments, many are still hesitant to go allout in adopting this digital change, an official of the Philippine Franchising Association (PFA) said.

PFA president Richard Sanz noted that although there are many fintech players pitching their cashless payment services, the lack of an integrated system that could accept transactions regardless of which platform retailers are enrolled in remains a big problem in the Philippines.

This, he said, is one of the major reasons not all retailers are into digital payments yet.

“It’s the same situation before where we had Megalink and BancNet, where the system at that time didn’t accept payments yet from Megalink if you’re in BancNet,” explained Sanz in a press conference.

“To thrive in this digital economy, services like these have to be platformagnostic, which means they’ll run on any system,” he said.

But Sanz expressed optimism that as soon as this concern is addressed, the organization would spearhead the shift to a cashless society.

“We are still in the initial stage where penetration is between five and 10 percent or even less. But down the road, in the next five years, PFA will be able to spearhead getting cashless as a more secure payment system,” he said.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the predominant mode of payment among Filipinos is still through cash and checks.

BSP records some P2.5 billion cash/check transactions per month and of this figure, only one percent is done through electronic means.

Retailers are urged to embrace digital transformation in their business operations and adopting cashless transactions is one key change

In his recent visit to the Philippines, Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma emphasized the need for cashless transactions to be executed in the Philippines to eliminate corruption and allow the country’s economy to prosper.