A ride-sharing app is set to expand its mobile wallet services in the Philippines after it has received the approval of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), according to a recent report.
The company will be launching its more expanded mobile wallet services very soon. It will be including bills payment and purchases made in-store and in-restaurant after getting its e-money licenses from the central bank.
The app can then be used by the consumers to pay at merchants as well as shop online and pay bills in-app.
The expanded services will allow the ride-sharing users in the Philippines to order food, pay bills and purchase from retail stores and restaurants through a quick response (QR) code.
The current services comprise of peer-to-peer fund transfer, ride payment and prepaid phone top-up.
Moreover, the mobile wallet service users in the Philippines may also pay the partner-merchants and at the same time accumulate and redeem rewards in other markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Since their app can be found in 50% of the smartphones in the Philippines, it can contribute in increasing the digital payments in the country since it is offering a low-entry barrier to secure cashless payment options for both consumers and merchants.
Gaining the support of the country’s central bank has allowed them to help millions to participate in the cashless, digital economy without the need for a bank account or having to download a separate and additional set of apps.
In the 2017 Financial Inclusion Survey done by the central bank, it showed that only 22.6% or around 15.8 million Filipino adults are maintaining formal accounts as of last year, while those who have e-money accounts just reached 1.3%.
The Bank aims to raise the share of digital payments from 1% in 2013 to 20% of total transactions by 2020 through its National Retail Payment System.
Moreover, the company is confident that their expanded services will increase the usage of their mobile wallet from the current 20% of their total app users in the Philippines.
Seeing how the consumers will benefit from cashless payment methods is just the encouragement that the company needs. They are expecting their penetration to continue growing beyond 20%.
Although issues on internet connectivity exist, mobile payments in the country will definitely take off once the internet use in the country improves.
It is reassuring to know that internet adoption in the country has essentially increased in a span of over a year and will continue to get better, which shows more promise for mobile payments.
