The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has launched Paleng-QR Ph Plus in the Province of Ilocos Sur and the City of Vigan last April 23, bringing the number of local government units (LGUs) with digital payments in public markets, public utility vehicles, and business establishments to 68.
BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. said Paleng-QR Ph Plus in Ilocos is a “step toward bringing digitalization across the country to build a financially inclusive and resilient society.”
“By using the QR Ph codes in daily payment transactions, business owners and their customers can expand their digital financial footprint. This will give them access to a wider range of financial services, such as credit, savings, insurance, and investment,” said Remolona.
The Paleng-QR Ph Plus program is a joint program of the BSP and the Department of the Interior and Local Government. It encourages cashless transactions using QR Ph, the national standard for quick response or QR codes, a priority initiative under the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2022-2028. It also boosts digital payments and enables the digitalization of payment transactions in public markets and public utility vehicles, as well as business establishments.
BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and Ilocos Sur Governor Jeremias “Jerry” C. Singson led the provincial launch at the Provincial Farmers Livelihood Development Center, while Vigan City Mayor Jose “Bonito” C. Singson Jr. was at Calle Crisologo, both in Vigan City, according to the BSP.
Romulo-Puyat reiterated that LGUs which issue the ordinance to promote Paleng-QR Ph Plus are key to the program’s acceptance.
Meanwhile, Governor Singson said that bringing in Paleng-QR Ph “symbolizes Ilocos Sur’s dedication to creating a more inclusive and efficient financial ecosystem for all our residents.”
Vice Governor Ryan Luis V. Singson, for his part, said the program helps in their “journey towards building a robust digital payments ecosystem that will benefit all Ilocosurians.”
Mayor Singson of Vigan said, “we will embark on a program of capacitating everyone in Vigan to have access to digital payments through smartphones.
The BSP said that in partnership with local banks, they also conducted its “Piso Caravan" at the two market venues to replace unfit banknotes and coins with fit currency or electronic money.
The Piso Caravan is part of the BSP’s broader efforts to maintain the integrity of Philippine currency, it said.
The BSP will establish and launch 21 to 22 additional Paleng-QR Ph Plus within the year.
The incoming Paleng-QRs will include among others Cabanatuan City, General Santos City, Imus City, Kidapawan City, Laoag City, Valenzuela City, Tarlac, Bataan, and Ilocos Norte.
The nationwide program supports the BSP’s thrust to convert half of the total volume of retail payments in the country into digital form and to onboard 70 percent of Filipinos to the formal financial system under the BSP’s Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023.
To spread QR Ph use across the country, the BSP introduced the Paleng-QR program in mid-2022 with the DILG to help LGUs promote digitalization in the countryside.