Davao City to go cashless transactions

DAVAO CITY – The city government, in partnership with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, will launch on Nov. 23 a program for cashless transactions on the city’s establishments.

Zarinah Aligsao, BSP-Mindanao bank officer IV and regional economic affairs staffer, said the PalengQR PH aims to enjoin establishments to use cashless payment or QR (quick response) codes as an additional option for goods payments.

“Under the PalengQR PH, our merchants are enjoined to display their QR code with the statement. We accept GCash here and If you are the buyer, you will immediately see that you can pay through GCash,” she said.

During the upcoming program launch, she said there would be “onboarding” or registration of merchants and stakeholders to financial service providers that include banks and electronic money issuers.

Digital kiosks for Landbank, Asia United Bank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, and electronic money issuers GCash, PayMaya, and StarPay will be established for those who do not have accounts yet.

Aligsao said the QR PH initiative seeks to push for the acceptance of digital payments among market vendors, community shopkeepers, tricycle operators, and drivers in all cities and municipalities in the country.

“The onboarding will not be limited to one public market alone as it is eyed to be conducted in other public markets in Davao City. It will be the first city in Mindanao to adopt and implement this program,” she said.

With the program, she said merchants will no longer have a hard time producing the loose change for purchases, and at the same time reduce the risk of consumers receiving torn bills.

“With the presence of coronavirus disease 2019 in our community, the cashless payment scheme also helps reduce the risk of virus transmission,” she said. (PNA)