President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. fully supports the Paleng-QR Ph Plus Initiative and wants government agencies to educate Filipinos on the use of e-wallet and other digital payment apps to prop up economic activities, particularly with the inclusion of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The President expressed his view on Thursday during a meeting in Malacañang with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Digital Infrastructure Cluster discussing recommendations to further improve the country’s digital infrastructure.
PSAC Member Ernest Cu, President and CEO of Globe Telecom, who met the President described the use of quick response (QR) codes and other digital payment apps as something like a “home run” for the government, saying that they are excited to start serving the public markets using QR codes.
PSAC Convenor Sabin Aboitiz, President & CEO of the Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., was also present during the meeting along with Union Digital President and CEO Henry Rhoel Aguda, Bank of the Philippines Islands COO Ramon Jocson and PLDT Inc. President and CEO Alfredo Panlilio.
The e-commerce platforms including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) have teams going around the country conducting information and education campaigns on Paleng-QR Ph Plus, which was launched in 2022, in different cities and local government units (LGUs).
“We have to do it. It’s a grassroots level approach. There are also videos on YouTube and we also have Tiktok to get people to educate themselves. And if you use the app regularly, you will see it being offered to you on the app,” Cu said, noting the country’s very high technology adoption rate.
The adoption of QR codes and use of digital payment apps will make savings and loan applications in banks a lot easier for the public, especially the farmers, fisherfolks and small businesses, according to PSAC members.
At the same time, the government could eliminate the 5-6 lending and similar money lending businesses thus making the cost of running MSMEs, which are the main drivers of the economy, go down.
BSP Governor Felipe Medalla expressed support to the project saying, “Mr. President, this one has a big impact on financial inclusion because the problem is there’s no way for banks to assess their credit scores, but if we have a digital database with their payment habits, that will be a substitute and a good proxy for credit scoring.This actually helps in the financial inclusion advocacy of the BSP and the government.”
Aside from rallying support for Paleng-QR Ph Plus Initiative, PSAC made new recommendations for the President’s approval.
Among the new recommendations are the adoption of the National Cybersecurity Plan (NCSP) 2023-2028 and the Connectivity Index Rating System. *PND*
