‘PALENG-QR PH’ DIGITALIZATION PROGRAM LAUNCHED IN DAVAO

All-in-one money app Maya seeks to transform Davao City’s biggest Bankerohan Public Market with the launch of the PalengQR PH initiative in Mindanao.

Spearheading the “digi-palengke” program is Davao City government, with the support of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), supported by PLDT and Smart Communications.

BSP Governor Felipe Medalla and Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte led the ceremonies recently held at the city’s Bankerohan Public Market.

“By promoting the interoperable QR PH national standard codes, Paleng-QR PH creates a simple but more powerful digital finance experience at the local community level. At Maya, we fully support Davao City’s vision to build a stronger digital ecosystem,” said Orlando Vea, Maya CEO and founder and Maya Bank cofounder.

The Paleng-QR Ph program aims to digitalize transactions starting with public markets and local transportation. The program enables vendors and tricycle drivers to accept digital payments from customers regardless of their e-wallet or bank accounts via QR Ph, the national standard for QR payment.

Maya said its QR codes were QR Ph-compliant, and that its app could scan any QR Ph-powered transaction.

Creating digi-palengkes is seen part of Maya’s own “LGUs Embracing and Accelerating Digitalization.” Through this program, Maya equips local governments like Davao City with business-in-a-box payment acceptance solutions and disbursement tools to enable faster public service delivery.

Maya is the first digital financial services platform to adopt QR Ph. More than 52 million users can enjoy a seamless experience using Maya’s consumer platforms that can send and accept P2P payments from other QR Ph-participating financial institutions.

Meanwhile, non-Maya users can pay at over 800,000 QR Ph-enabled Maya merchants, which are present in 96 percent of the total cities and municipalities.

The BSP’s QR Ph initiative is part of the overall financial services transformation road map of the Philippines. It aims to raise Filipinos’ trust in digital financial services, as consumers and enterprises will get used to sending and receiving cashless payments for everyday transactions.

For its part, the BSP’s thrust is to increase the share of Filipino adults with a financial account from 56 percent in 2021 to 70 percent in 2023. The central bank also aspires to grow the volume of digital payments from 20 percent in 2021 to 50 percent by next year.

“Digital payment is the entry point of Filipinos to the financial system. As they build their financial footprint, consumers and MSMEs can access more progressive digital banking services offered by Maya,” said Vea.