Google Pay use in PHL remains low, Visa says

GOOGLE PAY usage in the Philippines remains low as the share of payments coursed through the channel to the total is still in the single digits, but adoption is expected to grow as it becomes more integrated in everyday transactions, Visa said.

“We’re making sure to be able to really get more transactions there, to be able to use it in say, transit or convenience stores. Normally, you see it (become) stickier the moment you use it on the everyday type of payments,” Jeffrey V. Navarro, country manager for Visa Philippines told reporters on the sidelines of an event on Tuesday.

“So, once that ecosystem is in place, then we see it ramping up.”

Google Pay entered the Philippine market in November last year through the launch of Google Wallet, which allows users to link supported debit or credit cards to the e-wallet.

The initial rollout was done with Visa partner issuers in the Philippines, with Mastercard following soon after.

According to Google’s website, the Philippine banks and financial institutions with Google Wallet-supported credit and debit cards are Bank of the Philippine Islands; China Banking Corp.; East West Banking Corp.; GCash; GoTyme Bank Corp.; Maya Bank, Inc.; Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.; Union Bank of the Philippines; Wise Pilipinas; and Zed Financial PH, Inc.

Local adoption of Google Pay remains low, but the pace of transaction growth is similar to levels seen in its rollout in other countries, Mr. Navarro said.

“Even though it’s in the single-digit space, it’s very encouraging,” he said. “It’s not too big yet but month on month, we see improvement. I think we’re still waiting for other players, other banks. And slowly, you can see some of them are already announcing also.”

“Normally, it’s always a concern in terms of their product roadmap as to how to prioritize it. But we’ve seen a lot of requests for that one.”

This comes ahead of the launch of Apple Pay in the Philippines, which is expected by next quarter.

These platforms are expected to help drive digital payments growth in the country with the use of near-field communication technology to enable contactless transactions.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is targeting to achieve a 60-70% share of digital payments over total retail payments volume by 2028, in line with the Philippine Development Plan.

In 2024, the share of online payments in monthly retail transactions stood at 57.4% in terms of volume and 59% in value terms in 2024, BSP data showed. These are up from 52.8% and 55.3%, respectively, in 2023. — A.M.C. Sy