Digital payments rise but cash still leads in the Philippines

In the Philippines, cash remains dominant, accounting for 42% of POS transaction value. However, digital wallets and account-to-account (A2A) payments are steadily gaining popularity, according to Worldpay’s Global Payments Report 2026.

The report revealed that digital wallets, primarily the Philippine mobile payments platform GCash, represented 41% of e-commerce transaction value and 29% of point-of-sale (POS) payments in 2025.

Meanwhile, A2A is also becoming more popular due to systems like InstaPay and QR PH, which allow users and sellers to transact via QR codes or through digital wallets and digital banking applications. In 2025 alone, A2A transactions made up to 13% of e-commerce value and 7% of POS payments.

Despite continued patronage of digital payments, cash remains the primary means of transaction in the Philippines. Cash on delivery accounted for 23% of e-commerce value, particularly among unbanked consumers, who, according to the World Bank, accounted for half of the Filipino population in 2024.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) continues to drive the adoption of digital payments through digital wallets and QR codes, strengthening interoperability with Southeast Asia’s payment networks. In July 2025, the central bank reported that digital payments made up 57.4% of retail transaction volume—surpassing its 50% target.

The status of digital payments adoption in the Philippines

In recent months, the Southeast Asian country has been experiencing major developments in digital payments adoption. In February, the central bank said it might miss its 2028 target of converting 70% of payments to digital, aiming to expedite the Philippines’ transition to a cash-lite society.

However, a report by Southeast fintech platform Fiuu contradicts this statement, identifying 2025 as a crucial year for the Philippine fintech industry, highlighting the launch of global digital wallet services and the strict regulations are changing everyday commerce.

The Philippines is also nearing the passage of its eBayad Act, a bill that aims to make public digital transactions faster, more transparent, and efficient for ordinary Filipinos. And recently, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., called for simplifying the distribution of fuel subsidies and for considering digital payments amid the ongoing global oil crisis due to the Iran-U.S. war.

Watch: How many Filipinos are still unbanked?