From the 124th rank in 2017, the Philippines has jumped up 29 notches to place 95th in the world in terms of ease of doing business in the recent Doing Business 2020 report released by the World Bank. This has been attributed to more government agencies adopting digital payments and shifting transactions online. And with the current adoption progress in the country, the ease of doing business in the Philippines is expected to further improve.
Orlando B. Vea, Voyager Innovations and PayMaya Founder and CEO, explains that digital payments are a key component in the ease of doing business in the Philippines. It makes different aspects of setting up a business in the country simpler for interested parties and individuals especially so that more and more government agencies are coming on board.
“Payments complete the cycle for setting up or doing business in the country especially when applying for permits or remitting taxes, which is why having digital payments acceptance in the online portals of government agencies plays an important role in simplifying and improving government processes for doing business in the country,” Vea said.
According to the report, the Philippines was the most improved economy in Southeast Asia. Globally, the Philippines was included in the top three improved countries next to Saudi Arabia and Togo. Specifically, the country made great strides in the areas of starting a business, dealing with construction permits, protecting minority investors and paying taxes, among others.
Optimistic Predictions For Improved Ease of Doing Business in the Philippines 2021 Report
Aside from easing the establishment of business in the country, adopting digital payment systems allows government agencies to provide more convenient and efficient services to citizens. Opening their doors to emerging payment solutions such as PayMaya’s e-wallet also broadens the government agencies’ reach to the unbanked and underserved segment. And through PayMaya’s integrated solutions, every Filipino can fully and much more easily access and avail of the government’s digital services.
With more national agencies and local governments accepting digital payments, Vea is optimistic to see further improvements in the country’s Doing Business ranking next year. In addition to that, Vea believes that with the encouraging regulatory regime supervised by the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), it’s highly possible for the Philippines to leapfrog its neighboring Southeast Asian countries next year.
“We are encouraged by the progressiveness of the government agencies we have partnered with and are currently talking to,” Vea said. “Many of them are now open to improving their processes with the help of digital payments in order to deliver better public service to the Filipino people.”
Just recently, PayMaya further added quite a number of government agency partners to their roster. This includes Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Home Development Mutual Fund (PAG-IBIG), the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC), the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Social Security System (SSS), and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Their partnership now allows the said agencies to accept digital payments such as credit, debit, and prepaid card payments online and within their offices as well as from PayMaya’s mobile wallet app. Aside from these government agencies, the local government units of the City of Manila and the Province of Isabela have also jumped on board to enable cashless disbursements for their citizen beneficiaries.
PayMaya is the only financial technology company in the Philippines offering integrated consumer and merchant payment solutions. It is the first to give millions of Filipinos an e-wallet that allows cashless transactions at any time of the day, anywhere in the world, and from any device. PayMaya’s universal payments platform also allows the country’s top eCommerce sites, major retail and quick-service restaurants, government institutions, as well as MSME to accept multiple kinds of cashless payments.