The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has introduced QR Ph P2M (person-to-merchant) last Tuesday in an attempt to make it easier for merchants to accept e-payments.
As per Governor Benjamin Diokno of the BSP, Filipinos who have accounts in partner banks can use QR Ph payments in over 30,000 locations of more than 20,000 participating merchants across the country.
The said partner banks include AUB, AllBank, Cebuana Lhuillier Rural Bank, Chinabank, Land Bank of the Philippines, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., StarPay, Union Bank, and USSC Money Services.
During its virtual launch, Diokno said that the QR Ph P2M will enable department stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, restaurants, and other types of merchants to accept e-payments even when the customer is at home and not physically at the store.
See also:
- Online transactions under Php500 should be tax-free, says BSP Governor
- GCash to launch ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ feature this 2021
BSP anticipates that more payment service providers and merchants will participate on the new platform after the announcement.
The central bank initially launched a person-to-person version of the system called QR Ph P2P last November 2019, which was primarily for remittances and payments within the informal sector. It was apparently a success as the six pilot participants grew to 23 by end of August this year.
“To complement the P2P component of the QR Ph, the QR Ph for person-to-merchant was developed and its pilot run started in April this year,” says Diokno.
The QR Ph P2M program is a joint initiative of the BSP and the Philippine Payments Management, Inc.