Businesses — especially the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) — stand to benefit from the adoption of digital payments, as technology enables them to streamline their financial transactions while providing them with greater security and convenience.
Southeast Asia has seen a boom in cashless transactions within the last two years, as the pandemic forced almost everyone into the digital trend. The Philippines is no exception. More and more Filipino adults, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), now have access to transaction accounts, pushing digital payment transactions to 26.8 percent in terms of value and 20.1 percent in terms of volume.
“Businesses are now seeing the value of the adoption of digital payments – from receiving payments from their customers to transacting with suppliers and government. We at UBX believe that the future of commerce, whether online or offline, lies in digital payments and we are one with the BSP in pushing for the greater adoption of cashless solutions among Filipino businesses,” UBX Managing Director for Commerce and Payment, Jaime P. Garchitorena said.
UBX, the leading open finance platform in the Philippines, operates BUx, the country’s leading all-in-one payment solutions platform. BUx is an end-to-end payment solutions platform that allows merchants of all sizes to accept all forms of payment. It unifies into one solution everything from payment channels to card payments, bank transfers, over-the-counter payments, to e-wallets.
With BUx, businesses can also track paid and pending payments, download payment summaries, and receive real-time notifications of funds credited through its best-in-class dashboard.
BUx has the most extensive payments network in the Philippines with over 50,000 access points and 30 payment partner channels, covering 99 percent of the payment channels requirement by merchants.
“Digital payments empower entrepreneurs – especially those that are smaller in scale – to become more profitable in the long run, as financial transactions become more convenient, safer, and even cheaper. By adopting digital payments, businesses need not to rely on traditional cash management practices, streamlining their financial needs and allowing them to focus more on growing their businesses,” Garchitorena said.
Under the BSP’s Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap of 2020-2023, the government wants to migrate 50 percent of the total volume of retail payments to digital channels by next year. The central bank wants to transform the Philippines into a cash-lite economy, especially since the pandemic ushered the country into a new normal.
This agenda also goes hand-in-hand with the government’s thrust of promoting financial inclusion, with the BSP targeting to have 70 percent of Filipino adults included in the country’s financial systems.
“As a strong government partner, UBX and BUx will continue to support the BSP to achieve our shared goal of including everyone into the financial system through open finance. We remain committed to continue promoting digital payments not only to foster financial inclusion, but also to help the economy recover from the pandemic,” Garchitorena said.
To learn more about UBX, please visit www.ubx.ph.