Habits have shifted, and consumers have realized the convenience online payment has to offer, even as activities are now happening face-to-face, the use of online payments remains the same.

E-commerce surged largely out of necessity but research shows that there is no going back and contributing to this growth are innovations in digital payments to be a solution to online consumer preferences. According to Joel Henckel, SVP, US Market Acceptance of MasterCard, the transaction volume of card-not-present surpassed card-present last March 2020 and has not gone back down since.

It is safe to say that businesses that have not adapted to online payment options will be left behind and may limit their potential in reaching out to a wider audience.

Digital Payment Methods

A cashless society doesn’t just stop there; merchants are now more conscious in choosing a seamless and convenient experience for themselves and for their customers and these conscious decisions begin with payments.

These are expanding payment methods such as:

1. Adding Digital Wallets

A digital wallet is your everyday wallet as a virtual version. It can be quickly accessed online or sometimes, in-store to make a payment.

• Taking QR-code payments

QR codes are an innovative way to drive additional sales and improving customer experience by directing them to a specific link that may redirect a consumer to the merchant’s website, top selling product, promo, ad, or sale by simply scanning the said code.

• Accepting Pay by link and Digital Invoicing

Pay by link allows merchants to create custom links to send to customers to initiate online payments. Similarly, Digital invoicing is used in a business-to-business (B2B) setting.

*A Blog that describes the trend of online payment and advantages of cashless transactions*

The Benefits of Going Cashless

• Convenience

There is no need to bring coins and bills or even go to the bank to deposit. Consumers will be able to pay anywhere by using their mobile phones. Electronic-transfer-based sales immediately enter computer systems updating merchants of their sales real-time.

• Crime prevention

Cashless transactions through bank apps or e-wallet apps have authentication processes that help determine fraudulent purchases. Additionally, all purchases and transactions leave a digital footprint that can help law enforcement detect criminal behavior.

• Environmentally Friendly

Merchants incur additional costs when printing receipts and oftentimes, these receipts are thrown away the second after customers receive them. Cashless transactions doesn’t mean having no records but instead, provides the customer digital records of all their transactions which means little to no cost on printing for merchants and less trash for the environment.

• International Payments are more convenient

Exchanging from currency is usually a long process. If a Filipino who was born in the Philippines and earned Philippine peso decides to take a trip abroad, he shall convert his Philippine Peso to dollars and then convert his dollars to whatever local currency is used in the country he is planning to visit.

Digital payments make the process easier. Instead of withdrawing, customers can use their mobile devices to pay and their banking app or e-wallet will handle the conversion for them.

A Cashless Society

Can you picture it out?

Instead of paper exchanges and transactions, payments are done virtually and the exchange of money is through the authorization of the fund transfer from a virtual bank account to another person or business.

Today, these have started through the following:

• Credit and debit cards

Cards were, and might probably still be, one of the most popular cash alternatives widely used by consumers. It removes the weight of physical cash but might not be enough to create a truly cashless society.

With the shift of behavior, eventually, consumers will be using mobile devices as a tool for payments alone rather than cash or cards.

• Electronic payment apps

A great example is Paypal, which is helpful for person-to-person (P2P) payments. Lately, Fintech services such as GiyaPay are coming to the market which reduces the need for consumers to download an app on their phones.

Payment Integrators

Fintech services such as GiyaPay, which call themselves Payment Integrators, is a convenient way for merchants to conduct business and still get paid without needing to download all payment options there are in the market.

Merchants will experience no hassle in having to adapt modern payment options from local and international markets since payment integrators accept different payment options allowing consumers to choose their preferred payment option and allowing merchants to still receive payment.

The service allows business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) payments or what is now coined as account-to-account (A2A) online payments.

• Mobile payment services

Most commonly known as e-wallets, these services provide a cash-free option to do payments. Mobile payment services are one of the drivers in pushing consumers to using mobile devices as their primary tool in making payments rather than physical cards which still has the tendency of getting easily lost.

• Virtual currencies

Virtual currencies are also one of the things that were recognized during the pandemic. Cryptocurrency is now part of the discussion and may not go anytime soon.

Is the Philippines capable of becoming a cashless society?

The Philippines is in its younger stages of becoming a cashless society but is not impossible. During the height of the pandemic, businesses and consumers didn’t shy away from using technology to their advantage and have shifted their habits in order to survive.

Habits are not easily changed and with businesses still offering the virtual alternative, consumers will surely maintain the convenience that was discovered during the numerous lockdowns.

Although the growth of e-commerce is partially attributed to the lockdowns in the Philippines, according to the DTI-organized E-Commerce Promotions Council, this is solely not the case. It may also be attributed to the improvement of the Philippines’ digital infrastructure, logistics sector, and the accelerated pace of e-wallet adoption.

E-wallets are a friendlier alternative to unbanked Filipinos which helped the accelerated pace of the adoption. Instead of transitioning from cards to digital payments, Filipinos skipped entirely and adapted mobile payments nationwide.

This is a bright outlook of what there is to come.

Know more about GiyaPay

Payment integrators are relatively new to the Philippine market. We offer various payment options for your customers to choose from and a seamless experience for you in gathering reports.

Want to know more? Visit our website www.giyapay.com or email us at reachus@giyapay.com.

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