THE use of QR for mobile digital payments is very popular
in various emerging and developed economies. In China, for example, mobile
digital payments account for over half of the country’s total transaction
volume.
In the Philippines, the use of the said technology is
still in its nascent stage, and has yet to see an explosion in usage today.
Despite this GCash, operated by Globe Fintech Innovations
Inc. (Mynt), sees the value of setting up as many QR-enabled merchants as
possible, as it believes that the future of mobile digital payments lies on
innovative technologies.
“QR payments provide security and convenience to both merchants
and their customers. Our thrust as a mobile wallet is to acquire as many
merchant partners as possible — even micro-entrepreneurs such as taho vendors —
to future-proof us from the expected boom in usage,” said JM Aujero, Vice
President for Merchant Solutions.
Already, GCash has breached the 50,000 merchant mark in
the first quarter of 2019, a huge milestone for the company that introduced
this technology first in the Philippines in 2017.
“We want to be as pervasive as our partner Ant Financial
in China. QR is the future of payments, and we are committed to lead in this
arena here in the Philippines,” he said.
The QR technology of GCash is far reaching, spanning from
Luzon to Visayas and down to Mindanao, including popular tourist destination
Boracay.
This particular technology is empowering micro, small,
and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to adopt into the digital arena. Aside from
giving them access to millions of customers, the QR payments solution of GCash
allows merchants to enjoy auto-sweeping of their daily transactions into their
account.
It likewise provides a better performance evaluation of
the business, as the system provides for QR transaction reports, which allows
enterprises to study and analyze their transactions real time. Cash handling
issues are also addressed through the QR payments system.
GCash offers merchants no set up fees, a huge customer
base, lower rates than most debit and credit cards, a chance for increased marketing,
and access to periodic reports to oversee their business performance.
“Merchants and social sellers can leverage on the
ubiquity of GCash in the Philippines, as well as benefit from this simple,
cost-effective, and secure alternative to cash,” he said.
GCash is embarking on a battle against cash to capture
more users this year, and the need to increase the number of merchants in the
GCash platform only continues to be more pronounced.
The GCash QR payments solution, he explained, is
supportive of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ goal of reducing cash payments
and increasing the share of non-cash transactions to 20 percent of the total
volume by 2020.
“Our aggressive stance in fighting for more QR-enabled
merchants stems from the fact that everyday, more and more GCash users onboard
the platform. Use cases for QR payments also continue to sprout,” he said.
“With Ant Financial as our partner, we are well-equipped
to deliver the best QR experience in the Philippines. Ant Financial will also
help us in strengthening our hold while massively scaling up our QR reach in
the country,” he said.
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