MANILA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Digital payments continue to rise in the Philippines, exceeding the central bank's target to reach 20 percent of all monthly payments volume by 2020, the Philippine central bank said on Thursday.
In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that 20.1 percent of monthly payments volume is done digitally by the end of 2020, a substantial improvement from the 2020 first semester estimates, which pegged digital payments volume at 17 percent.
The BSP added that the value of digital payments likewise substantially grew from 25 percent to 26.8 percent for the same period.
It added that the high-frequency, low-value retail transactions such as person-to-merchant payments and person-to-person payments such as electronic fund transfers drove the increased usage of digital payments.
According to the BSP, the health protocols that entailed social mobility restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have become a strong catalyst for the country's broader adoption of digital payments.
"While the COVID-19 pandemic may have disrupted our way of life, it also created exceptional opportunities to boost digital payments and financial inclusion in the country," BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said. Enditem
