Philippines exceeds 2024 digital payment targets

The Philippines has surpassed its digital payment targets for 2024, signaling a strong move towards a less-cash economy, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Digital transactions now make up 57.4 percent of the total monthly retail payment volume and 59.0 percent in value. This exceeds the 2024 goal set under the Philippine Development Plan 2023–2028.

The increase marks a 4.6-percentage-point rise in volume from the previous year. This indicates continued momentum in the country’s adoption of electronic payment methods. The success is due to market changes, forward-looking policies from the BSP, and Filipinos’ growing familiarity and trust in digital platforms.

Merchant payments saw a 29.1-percent increase, reaching 2,196 million digital transactions in 2024 and represented 66.4 percent of the total digital payment volume.

Person-to-person (P2P) transfers contributed 20.6 percent of the volume with 680.5 million digital transactions. P2P transfers grew 34.7 percent from the previous year, boosted by wider access to transaction accounts.

Business-to-business (B2B) payments (supplier payments) increased by 28.1 percent to 205 million digital transactions, showing the effect of the BSP’s digitalization efforts in the business sector.

Together, these three categories accounted for 93.2 percent of the total digital transaction volume in 2024.

The government sector (G2X) remained a leader in digitalization, with 97.2 percent of its transactions, in both volume and value, conducted digitally. This highlights the public sector’s strong commitment to electronic payments, especially for social transfers, wages and supplier contracts.

Personal payments (P2X) also made significant advances, with 72.2 percent of transactions by volume and 80.4 percent by value processed digitally. This is a 5.3-percent increase from 2023. A decline in non-digital personal payments suggests a potential lasting shift towards digital solutions.

Increased use of the Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network (PESONet) and InstaPay was crucial in reaching these targets.

PESONet processed 100.9 million transactions worth P10.1 trillion in 2024. InstaPay saw strong growth with 1.4 billion transactions valued at P7.3 trillion.

The expansion of InstaPay’s uses, particularly QR transactions, greatly contributed to this.

The rising adoption of QR Ph P2M (person-to-merchant) transactions, which reached 174.3 million and totaled P227.5 billion underlines the growing ease and popularity of digital payments, the BSP said.

BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. underscored the bank’s dedication to creating an environment that enables regulated entities and fintech partners to innovate responsibly.

The BSP said it is developing policies to make digital payments more affordable and accessible. It said high fees remain a barrier for some users, and the ultimate goal is to build an inclusive digital finance ecosystem by showing the benefits, safety, and reliability of the country’s retail payment system.

It said the progress in digital payment adoption moves the Philippines closer to its vision of a more digitally integrated and financially inclusive economy.