AUB rolls out QR Ph to customers, merchants
Asia United Bank (AUB) has rolled out QR Ph to its customers and merchants under its Hellomoney and AUB PayMate digital payment acceptance platform, making it one of only three “issuer-acquirer” participants ready to use and accept the national QR code by May.
“AUB strongly supports the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in promoting digital transactions and we believe QRPh is one effective engine to fast-track the vision for a cash-lite economy,” said AUB President Manuel A. Gomez.
The use of QR codes for payments has been gaining traction, not only as an alternative to the traditional debit and credit card payments, but to displace a significant volume of cash transactions in the country. By simply scanning the merchant-displayed QR Ph code using their mobile devices, consumers benefit from having a faster, easier, secure and more convenient payment option.
The BSP required all payment service providers to adopt the national QR code standard to transform the fragmented QR-driven payment services into interoperable payment solutions. Using a single QR code eliminates the need for customers to maintain several QR accounts and for merchants to display numerous QRs. It set the full rollout of the QR Ph by September 2021.
“The safety, ease and affordability of using QR Ph person-to-merchant (P2M) will make digital payments more accessible to micro, small, and medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines. Given that the sector comprises around 99% of the total number of businesses in the country, the adoption of QR Ph P2M by MSMEs will allow more Filipinos to reap the benefits of digital payments,” BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said during the virtual launch last Friday, April 30.
BSP’s pilot launch of person to person (P2P) QR Ph was in November 2019, in which AUB was one of six participating payment service providers. The universal bank has already been deploying its person-to-merchant (P2M) QR Ph codes to its to more than 15,000 AUB PayMate merchants to enable them to accept QR transactions from any QR Ph compliant wallet. Its AUB mobile app and HelloMoney QR are now also QR Ph-compliant so users can use their e-wallet when transacting with merchants displaying the QR Ph code.
“AUB sees QR code transactions to proliferate as many consumers who made the digital pivot are already discovering and growing accustomed to cashless and contactless payment options such as scanning QR codes, said Wilfredo Rodriguez, AUB executive vice president for IT and Operations.
“With social distancing now part of the ‘New Normal,’ we see a quicker adoption to QR Ph,” said Mags Surtida, AUB first vice president and Business Group Head for Credit Cards & Acquiring. “With the full implementation of QR Ph, more unbanked Filipinos, as well as micro and small enterprises, will be able to join the formal financial system as QR Ph will enable them to carry out electronic fund transfers and digital payments with greater ease.”
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