E-COMMERCE platform Lazada Philippines and financial solutions platform PayMongo have teamed up to integrate QR Ph, a digital payment option that enables customers to pay using quick-response (QR) codes.

“This new feature on the Lazada app, powered by PayMongo, offers Filipino shoppers a fast and convenient way to complete their purchases online,” they said in a statement on Tuesday.

Lazada and PayMongo said the partnership aims to promote cashless payments and strengthen the digital payments ecosystem.

“QR Ph is the latest offering in our suite of payment solutions, giving our users more options and making it easier for them to adopt digital payment methods,” Lazada Philippines Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Carlos O. Barrera said.

“This partnership reflects our mission to make payments simpler, safer, and more inclusive for both merchants and consumers,” said Jojo Malolos, CEO of PayMongo.

The pandemic accelerated the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) push to adopt digital payments. This initiative promotes financial inclusion, lowers transaction costs, and eliminates common barriers to owning a transaction account, according to the BSP’s Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023.

The central bank aims to achieve a 60-70% share of digital payments in the total retail payment volume by 2028.

In 2023, the share of digital payments in the total volume of monthly retail transactions climbed to 52.8% from 42.1% in 2022, according to BSP data.

The Philippine digital economy is projected to be the fastest-growing in Southeast Asia with a 20% growth to $31 billion in terms of gross merchandise value, according to a report by Google, Temasek Holdings, and Bain & Co. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz