City backs Paleng-QR PH program
City officials expressed support for the implementation of the Paleng-QR PH program for merchants and businesses in the city.
Under Resolution No. 320, series of 2022, local legislators underscored that it is to the best interest if the public will adopt the Paleng-QR PH program in the city pursuant to the Joint Memorandum circular issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) which established guidelines enjoining local government units to participate in the implementation of the said program.
Further, the said circular provided the nationwide adoption and implementation of the Paleng-QR PH program by the local governments to aggressively promote digital payments among market vendors, sari-sari store owners, tricycle drivers, consumers and commuters.
The Paleng-QR PH program builds on the QR PH initiative by promoting financial inclusion and cashless transactions at the public markets, community stores and local transportation hubs around the country. It aspires to build a digital ecosystem based on basic payment behaviors among Filipinos, raise the utility of transaction accounts and aid in the promotion of adaptation of these accounts.
The council admitted that as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, the digitalization of payments proved to be effective in facilitating the continuation of business and government transactions amidst mobility restrictions.
Moreover, digitalization enabled the government and private institutions to provide lifeline support to members of the vulnerable and marginalized sectors.
According to the council, the availability of digitized payments provides for additional transaction options that are credited in real time without need for queueing or exchange of money and other physical documents.
The council added that to enable digitized transactions, clients and customers must have accounts with financial services providers who are capacitated to provide contactless billings and payment solutions and more and more financial service providers are making their services available due to the growing interest in alternate transaction methods.
Earlier, the BSP has established the regulatory foundation to promote account ownership in digital payments in the country which includes the introduction of basic deposit account, and e-money as a no-frills and affordable account designed for the low income unbanked clients; the cash agent regulation which allows bank to tap third party retail outlets such as pawnshops and convenient stores to swerve as cash-in and cash-out points for bank clients; the launch of service providers to facilitate real-time electronic fund transfer between accounts held in different participating financial institutions; and the launch of QR PH to promote use of quick response technology as an expedient and cost efficient means for digital payment for taxes, purchases and bills.
The QR PH is the national QR code standard that serves as an instrument for cost efficient digital payments whether for person to person or person to merchant transactions. – Dexter A. See
