PayMaya said digital payments have “reached a tipping point in 2020,” as half of online shopping transactions based on value were coursed through cashless means.
Orlando B. Vea, the founder and chief executive of PayMaya, said digital payments have “overtaken cash as the preferred mode of payment” for online transactions, citing data from Google, Temasek, Bain & Co., and Euromonitor.
“From cash on delivery, today COD now means cashless orders and delivery. In 2020 alone, we processed over P95 billion worth of online shopping transactions across all of our platforms, which only shows that consumer preference for cashless payments and online shopping is overwhelmingly present,” he said.
Vea said this means that the country is now “on the cusp of an online shopping explosion in the next two years.” The collaboration among financial technology (fintech) providers, digital players, businesses, and the government will likely accelerate the pivot to digital, he added.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Friday updated the e-commerce Philippines Roadmap 2022, increasing its target of bringing the number of e-commerce merchants in the country to 1 million from 500,000 and its target of bringing the contribution of the industry to GDP from 3.4 percent to 5.5 percent.
“As we recharge our economy and build back better in the post-pandemic era, let us create a ‘Better Normal’ by taking advantage of the benefits of e-commerce. And as we aim for fast, convenient, and easy commerce in a digital world, let us remember that more e-commerce means more jobs and employment generated for our countrymen,” Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said.
Vea added that while the conditions created by the pandemic accelerated the development of online trade, the industry also needs to bond together and support the entire ecosystem. This, he said, “will turbo-charge its growth all the way to 2022.”
“With the guidance of DTI and the push to make e-commerce easy for all players involved, we are seeing online shopping and cashless payments boom in the country like never before. Consumers are now used to ordering online or via their phones and paying via cashless, and many businesses have accelerated their migration to digital, so there’s no turning back now when it comes to digital payments and e-commerce in the Philippines.”
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