Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 24) — E-wallets were a godsend to Filipinos who were unable to leave their homes during the lockdown, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said.
“Because of the travel restrictions, may mga physical distancing protocols, itong pandemic talaga masasabi talagang naging survival tool itong mga digital financial services,” said Risk and Innovation Supervision director Melchor Plabasan to CNN Philippines on Wednesday.
[Translation: Because of the travel restrictions and physical distancing protocols, we can say that during the pandemic these digital financial services became a survival tool.]
The services, including e-wallets, allowed people to buy necessities and even pay their bills even when they were unable to leave their homes.
Plabasan said users of e-wallets rose in March and April last year, adding that 4 million accounts were opened in those months alone, possibly racking up trillions of pesos in transactions.
Based on the BSP’s data, Plabasan said there are 91.3 million registered e-wallet users in the country but only 38.9 million active users. He defines active users as those who have made transactions in the last 90 days.
However, he said the numbers do not indicate unique users as a person could have more than one e-wallet account.
Plabasan said e-wallets are generally safe and secure especially when a person deals with licensed companies but urges people to be cautious as fraudsters have become more creative.
