2021 Visa Study shows that Filipinos’ cashless payments are increasing

I have been following the annual Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study for a few years now.

In the 2019 study, we already saw consumers start to use cashless payments although at that time, cash was still considered king. The 2020 study showed that, as a result of the pandemic, more Filipinos began using e-commerce and there was a significant shift away from cash payments and towards cashless transactions.

Now, the 2021 Visa study is beginning to show clear trends towards cashless payments, with 60% of Filipinos carrying less cash in their wallets and 84% having tried going cashless.

The survey was conducted among 1,000 consumers in the Philippines from August to September 2021 in the following cities: Manila, Cebu, Cavite, Rizal, and Bulacan.

COVID-19 has brought about established, as well as trending, patterns of consumer payment. Established patterns include the use of cashless payment options, online shopping, e-commerce, and delivery services, as well as the use of digital banks. Emerging trends include the use of more complicated cashless payment options such as digital identity and cryptocurrency as well as newer ways of shopping online including livestream shopping. According to Dan Wolbert, Visa Country Manager for the Philippines and Guam, the pandemic has accelerated the country’s transition to a cashless society by at least three years.

During the briefing, Wolbert cited several trends in 2021:

• 84% of consumers attempted to go cashless
• There was a 66% decrease in cash used
• There was a 60% decrease in cash carried
• There was a 70% increase in people using mobile banking since the onset of the pandemic
• Mobile wallet usage increased to 64% in 2021 vs 58% in 2020
• Because of movement restrictions, there was an increase in in-home spending as consumers ordered practically everything online, including content platform subscriptions
• Home delivery services was high, with 1/3 of consumers being first-time users
• 71% use e-commerce via apps on their smartphones; 38% use e-commerce via web browsers on smartphones

Emerging trends were also been noted during the pandemic:

• Consumers began using contactless card payments more frequently (83% are aware of this payment method while 69% actually used it — an increase from 66% in 2020)
• Using QR code payments became more popular with 1 out of 3 consumers using it
• 31% of consumers used installment plans more than twice to pay for purchases in the past year
• While a fairly new concept, the use of virtual cards has gained awareness among consumers

Even if people are starting to report back to work, Wolbert does not see much change in the trends. In fact, as more people resume traveling, he sees many of them using cashless payments as a common mode of payment.

Three future trends are also seen to gain ground as consumers are exposed more and more to these technologies: biometrics, cryptocurrency, and digital identity.