BSP Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap Report
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BSP Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023 I. Vision and Strategic Outcomes (Targets by 2023) The BSP’s thrust to promote financial inclusion and digitalization of payments are mutually reinforcing: they go hand-in-hand, each enabling the other. As the BSP continues to foster the growth and development of digital payment innovations through enabling policies and regulations, it also promotes further financial inclusion. Digital payment innovations lower transaction costs and eliminate the oft-cited barriers to owning a transaction account. The widespread use of the internet and emergence of technological innovations make digital payments ubiquitous, more accessible and affordable, thereby propelling the progressive shift towards a cash-lite economy. Moreover, with the sudden onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the shift towards digital payments has become an imperative as physical distancing rules become the norm under the “New Economy” environment. By using digital payments with due care and vigilance, Filipinos reduce the need for mobility and prevent health risks from face-to-face and over-the-counter (OTC) financial transactions. The greater usage of digital payments will also facilitate the growth of Fintech businesses engaged in e-commerce businesses as the consumption of goods and services is increasingly driven by online purchases. Objective An efficient, inclusive, safe and secure digital payments ecosystem that supports the diverse needs and capabilities of individuals and firms, towards achievement of the BSP’s mandates Strategic Outcomes a. Strengthened customer preference for digital payments by: • Converting 50% of the total volume of retail payments into digital form, considering that payment services are the gateway of most Filipinos to the formal financial system. This shift can be made by offering customers faster and more affordable payment options that provide greater convenience. • Expanding the financially included to 70% of Filipino adults, by onboarding them to the formal financial system through the use of payment or transaction accounts. With the use of these accounts over time, they are able to build financial profiles with their payment service providers (i.e. banks and non-bank e-money issuers). b. More innovative and responsive digital financial services characterized by (1) innovation-driven use of consumer data to design financial products and services that are responsive to the needs of consumers, including those from the lower income sectors; (2) PhilSys-enabled Know-Your-Customer (KYC) to allow more individuals to access financial services; and (3) availability of a next- generation payment and settlement system to facilitate real time processing of financial transactions of the banking public and of the Philippine economy. Page 1 of 38 II. Background The Current Landscape of Digital Payments and Digital Finance Inclusion The first signs of electronic banking in the country sprouted in the 1980s with the introduction of the automated teller machine (ATM). Initially, banks formed three different ATM consortia (Expressnet, Megalink and Bancnet). ATM services did not turn out to be as efficient as intended with several consortia co-existing and operating in silos. This prompted banks to open up their systems to inter-ATM network transactions until eventually all networks merged into one consortium that has serviced the whole banking system since 2015 (see Figure 1). Figure 1. A snapshot history of ATMs in the Philippines : ATMs continue to capture public interest since its introduction in the 1980s. 1980s – 1990s 2000 – 2010 2011 – 2015 • Introduction of ATMs • Launch of online banking • Consolidation of • Operation of BancNet and payment gateway of operations of BancNet • Interconnection of ATM BancNet and Megalink switch of BancNet and • Interconnection of ATM Megalink switch of BancNet and Expressnet Source: BSP-Payment System Oversight Department (BSP-PSOD) The favorable acceptance of card-based facilities (e.g., debit and credit cards) prompted banks to deploy more point-of-sale (POS) terminals, replacing the traditional “imprenters” where these cards were swiped each time a payment transaction was made by cardholders. However, as of end-2019, ATMs continued to grow (albeit at a slower pace), while the number of credit cards and POS terminals have been declining, suggesting that other forms of financial access and payments services are being explored by consumers. Table 1. Number of 2017 2018 2019 Growth Rate 2018-2019 ATM Terminals 20,276 21,278 21,777 2.3% POS Terminals 181,748 103,852 79,693 -26 .0 % Credit Cards 8.44 million 9.4 million 9 million -4.2% Source: Financial Inclusion Dashboard Q4 2019 But perhaps, the biggest game changer in the field of financial technology came at the start of the 21 st century with the rise of the internet. It opened up opportunities for greater operational efficiency for banks and other payment service providers, as banks began to design and launch internet banking facilities that allowed their clients to access information on their accounts, transfer funds, pay bills, apply for loans, and make other banking and payment transactions using personal computers. These innovations in the financial and payments ecosystem paved the way for the Philippines to become the first country to introduce the concept of mobile money services in 2001. This concept was first introduced by a telecommunications company in order to Page 2 of 38 reach the unbanked and underserved segments of the economy. Through these mobile money services, consumers were able to do fund transfers and remittances, pay bills, and purchase goods with the use of only their mobile phones. These services were initially made available through SMS and was then the first use case for digital remittances by utilizing the SMS technology through mobile phones. These developments, in turn, were the impetus for the BSP to issue electronic money or “e-money” regulations as a way of creating an enabling regulatory environment that can support the growth of mobile money services in the country. With the growing young and tech savvy population and low rates of financial inclusion, these mobile money services carried the potential to acquaint these segments of the population with a simple and convenient way of digitally storing value and using these funds to perform different payments transactions. These opportunities continue to be present given that, as of January 2020, internet users in the Philippines were estimated to include 63 million people - more than half of the country’s 105 million population - and largely belong to the age group of 16 years old and above.1 Similarly, the country has a substantial chunk of the population using mobile phones, with an estimated 75.66 million users as of 2020.2 At the same time, the Philippines topped the average internet usage index in Asia, with Filipinos found to be spending an average of 10 hours and 2 minutes a day in the internet.3 Another significant development that contributed to a change in the payment landscape is the deepening mobile phone penetration rate. According to a 2015 country diagnostic of the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA), 4 mobile penetration rates in the country exceed 100%, with mobile data accounting for over 45% of gross revenues of the telecommunications sector. The recent 2019 Financial Inclusion Survey (FIS) Report showed similar results. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of adult respondents have a mobile phone, of which 75% own a smartphone. This is equivalent to 52% of total adult population with a smartphone, significantly higher than 38% in 2017. With mobile phones being a viable channel for mobile banking and electronic payments, there has been a substantial growth in the number and amount of e-money transactions which reflects the ongoing shift towards digital payments as shown in the following table: Table 2. E-Money 2017 2018 2019 Growth Rate 2018-2019 Total amount of transactions 963 1,090.1 1,485.3 36% (Inflow+Outflow) (in billion PH) Active e -money accounts (in millions) 2.2 5.0 8.8 76% Prepaid cards linked to E -money 25.2 28.2 20.6 -27% Source: Financial Inclusion Dashboard Q4 2019 Figure 2. 1 Number of internet users in the Philippines as of January 2020 , www.statista.com 2 Number of internet users in the Philippines as of January 2020 , www.statista.com 3 Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day , The Guardian News and Media 4 Better Than Cash Alliance Philippine Country Diagnostic (July 2015), which may be downloaded through this link: https://btca-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/38/english_attachments/UNCDF-BTCA-Philippines- diagnoctic-20151014.pdf?1445264531 Page 3 of 38 Payment Cards e-Money Accounts 43 Million 9 Million 20.6 Million 8.8 Million Debit cards Credit cards Prepaid cards Active e -money wallets (linked to e-money wallets) e-Banking 28,438 21,780 79,693 ATMs POS terminals E-Money Agents But majority of Filipinos remain financially excluded and underserved Despite these developments, however, current data on usage of digital financial services show a seeming disconnect as a large segment of the population remain financially excluded. In the 2019 FIS Report, it was found that 71% of the adult population or around 51.2 million Filipinos continue to lack ownership of a transaction account, a basic indicator of financial inclusion, and the most basic tool to make digital transactions. Interestingly, only 1 in 10 adults use their mobile phones and the internet for financial transactions. Despite a majority of the adult population being mobile phone users, only 12% of mobile phone owners and 21% of adults owning an account use their mobile phones to perform financial transactions. The same holds true for internet users with only 9% of those having internet access reportedly using the internet for financial transactions. Figure 3. Source: 2019 FIS Report Page 4 of 38 Internet or mobile banking significantly lags behind other modes of transaction for all types of accounts.