A new study reveals that the majority of Filipinos are still reluctant of using digital money transfers.
The study was done by the consultancy firm Censuswide, commissioned by US financial service company Western Union. They surveyed 2,003 Filipinos aged 18 and above who have sent or received international money transfers from October 31 to November 8.
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This study revealed that only 44 percent of consumers in the Philippines prefer to receive money transfers using digital platforms. This indicates that there is still a huge reluctance in the Philippines to go fully online for financial transactions.
The study discovered that the lack of trust is still one of the big reasons why digital transactions can’t fully flourish in the Philippines. 31 percent of senders and 23 percent of receivers have cited this as a big concern.
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But the lack of trust is not the only issue. Limitations are also a big problem as 30 percent of senders and 14 percent of receivers said that they can’t use digital money transfers due to limited knowledge, lack of connectivity, and having no bank accounts.
Still, 77 percent of respondents said that they expect an increase in money flow in the future due to the rising cost of living. However, 72 percent of them said that they can’t transfer as much money as they previously did due to hardships in living.
According to World Bank’s data, the Philippines is the fourth largest country in the world that received remittances with USD37 billion (around Php2.1 trillion) in 2021. Thus making the country one of their top five priorities.
Meanwhile, data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) show that personal remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) reached USD3.15 billion (around Php180.5 billion), which is 4 percent higher compared to USD3.03 billion (around Php173.6 billion) during the same month last year.