The Philippines remains a mainly cash-based society, however efforts from the Philippine government and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country’s central bank, mean that cash is being challenged by the rapid growth of e-commerce.
The efforts are part of the government’s financial inclusion plan; in which pawnshops, electronic money issuers, banking offices, microfinance providers and remittance agents are being selected to provide access to financial services in underprivileged areas. One of the main obstacles for e-commerce in the Philippines, along with a high unbanked population, is a lack of public awareness around electronic payments. The initiative, which encourages the rise in number of payment cards in circulation, means that card transaction volume and e-commerce payments are anticipated to rise.
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