USAID Fact Sheet E-PESO Activity

The program aims to advance financial inclusion and broad-based economic growth through electronic payments. E-PESO partners and collaborates with the Government of the Philippines and the private sector to achieve a 10% share of electronic payments (e-payment) usage in the country by 2020. The program focuses on improving the enabling environment for e-payments by supporting the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) through policy formulation, research, analysis, and advisory services. E-PESO provides technical assistance on digital security, consumer protection, and financial literacy to promote a healthy digital payment environment among related agencies. E-PESO also supports the expansion of e-payments infrastructure by forging and facilitating partnerships among financial institutions and technology service providers. The program helps financial institutions access modern technology, such as cloud computing, and innovative business models, such as the SAAS or Software as a Service. This is more affordable and can benefit small to medium financial institutions who have limited capital and may not be able to invest in large financial systems. The program drives e-payments transaction volume by helping the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collect taxes via e-payment using Visa, Mastercard, and Bancnet cards. E-PESO also assists BIR with the authorization of tax software providers (TSPs) which will help streamline electronic tax preparation, filing, and e-payment solutions. E-PESO provides technical assistance and support to government agencies, such as the Department of Budget Management (DBM), Bureau of Treasury (BOT), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), to help shift national government payments from checks to e-payments through PESONet – an electronic funds transfer payment system that enables transfer of funds to any bank in the network within the same banking day. The program also works with the preferred banks of other government agencies, such as the Social Security System, PAGIBIG, and PhilHealth, to help expand and increase the number of e-payment transactions for the disbursement of loans and benefits. E-PESO is collaborating with BSP and the payments industry in implementing a marketing awareness campaign for PESONet. The program has achieved several intermediate outcomes, including the issuance of BSP Circular No. 980 or the Adoption of National Retail Payment System (NRPS) Framework, the formation of the Philippine Payments Management Inc. (PPMI), and the setup, operationalization, and launch of PESONet and InstaPAY. E-PESO has also conducted trainings for BSP staff to strengthen their capabilities on financial systems security and audit, improved tax collections through electronic payments, and developed an online portal for the Philippine payments industry. E-PESO is also addressing gaps in the broader e-payment ecosystem and expanding e-payments adoption in partner cities by providing research, advisory services, partnerships facilitation, and project management assistance to local government units of cities under the USAID Cities Development Initiative (CDI). The program engages with the private sector and local financial stakeholders in these areas to encourage their participation in the ecosystem. The program has achieved several outcomes in partner cities, including the enhancement or enabling of e-payments for local government transactions in the cities of Quezon, Valenzuela, Zamboanga, and Cagayan de Oro. E-PESO has also completed the Philippine Country Report on Agent Networks and is currently conducting a study on the Cyber Resiliency Framework of the Philippines.