E-PESO ACTIVITY 9th Quarterly Reportpdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00N2BM.pdfPROGRAM OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION ... NBSFI National Baseline Study on Financial Inclusion ... PCHC Philippine

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E-PESO ACTIVITY

9th Quarterly Report Third Quarter, Year Three, April 1 – June 30, 2017

First Submission: July 30, 2017

Prepared for the United States Agency for International Development by Chemonics International Inc. under Contract No. AID-492-C-15-

0001. The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International

Development or the United States Government.

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CONTENTS

1. PROGRAM OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 5

2. ACTIVITY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS ............................................................................................... 7 2.1 Progress Narrative ............................................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Implementation Status ................................................................................................................... 16 2.3 Implementation Challenges .......................................................................................................... 31 2.4 PMP Update .................................................................................................................................... 34

3. INTEGRATION OF CROSSCUTTING ISSUES and USAID FORWARD PRIORITIES .................. 36 3.1 Gender Equality, Female Empowerment, and Disability Action .......................................... 36 3.2 Policy and Governance Support .................................................................................................. 36 3.3 Public Private Partnerships (PPP) ................................................................................................ 38

4. STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION AND INVOLVEMENT .................................................................. 40

5. MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES ................................................................................ 41

6. LESSONS LEARNED ....................................................................................................................................... 42

7. PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR NEXT QUARTER INCLUDING UPCOMING EVENTS ................ 50

ANNEX 1: Press Coverage and Mentions ANNEX 2: Summary of Results to Date by Key Indicator

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ACRONYMS

ACH Automated Clearing House

AFCS Automated Fare Collection System

AML Anti Money Laundering

ATM Automated Teller Machine

BAP Bankers Association of the Philippines

BIR Bureau of Internal Revenue

BSP Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

BTCA Better Than Cash Alliance

BTMS Budget and Treasury Management System

CDA Cooperative Development Authority

CDI Cities Development Initiative

COA Commission on Audit

DBM Department of Budget and Management

DBP Development Bank of the Philippines

DICT Department of Information and Communications Technology

DILG Department of Interior and Local Government

DOF Department of Finance

DOTr Department of Transportation

DSWD Department of Social Welfare and Development

DTI Department of Trade and Industry

EBPLS Electronic Business Permitting and Licensing System

EFT Electronic Fund Transfer

EIU Economist Intelligence Unit

EMI Electronic Money Issuer

G2P Government to Person

GPH Government of the Philippines

HDMF Home Development Mutual Fund

IFAO Inclusive Finance Advocacy Office

LBP Land Bank of the Philippines

LGU Local Government Unit

MOA Memorandum of Agreement

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MOU Memorandum of Understanding

MSME Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises

NATCCO National Confederation of Cooperatives

NBSFI National Baseline Study on Financial Inclusion

NGA National Government Agency

NMIS National Meat Inspection Service

NRPS National Retail Payment System

P2G Person to Government

PCHC Philippine Clearing House Corporation

PFG Partnership for Growth

POS Point-of-Sale Device

PPMI Philippine Payments Management Inc.

PPP Public Private Partnership

PRC Philippine Regulation Commission

PSA Philippine Statistics Authority

PSMB Payments System Management Body

RBAP Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines

SGM Settlement Guarantee Mechanism

TWG Technical Working Group

USAID United States Agency for International Development

USAID/E-PESO 9th Quarterly (Y3 Q3) Report 5

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1. PROGRAM OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION

Program Name: E-PESO Activity

Activity Start Date and End

Date: March 18, 2015-March 17, 2020

Name of Prime

Implementing Partner: Chemonics International, Inc.

[Contract/Agreement]

Number: AID-492-C-15-00001

Name of

Subcontractors/Subawardees: Leonine Initiatives

Major Counterpart

Organizations

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Department of Budget and Management

Department of Interior and Local Government

Department of Social Welfare and Development

Bureau of Internal Revenue

Geographic Coverage

(cities and or countries) Philippines

Reporting Period: April 1, 2017 – June 30, 2017

The E-PESO Activity is a USAID/Philippines program supporting the objectives of the U.S.-Philippines

Partnership for Growth (PFG), which focuses on addressing binding constraints to achieve sustained, more

inclusive economic growth. With 98% of payment transactions in the Philippines taking place through cash,

promoting a shift to electronic payments (e-payments) represents unrealized potential to promote

inclusive economic growth. E-PESO partners with the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the

private sector to achieve a rapid, widespread increase in e-payment adoption and usage. Through program

activities, E-PESO’s goal is for e-payments to account for 10% of retail transactions by the year 2020.

To shift from a cash-based economy to electronic, E-PESO supports the development of a lasting, inclusive

economic environment and sets the stage for new financial products to enter the market that explicitly

meet the needs of those striving to improve their lives. Enabling access to electronic transaction accounts

will provide the backbone needed to ensure that majority of Filipinos can use e-payments, which provide

a secure and cost-effective means to access a full range of payment and financial services. This broader

range of financial services can help Filipinos build assets, better withstand economic shocks, and participate

more broadly in the formal economy. E-payments also offer an improved ability to track financial flows in

line with GPH’s thrust towards greater transparency and accountability in financial transactions.

E-PESO builds on the GPH leadership in promoting e-payments as a vehicle for expanding financial

inclusion. Recognized in 2014 by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) as one of the global leaders in

promoting financial inclusion, the Philippines’ successful track record in deepening financial inclusion

mirrors worldwide trends: Countries that institute national financial inclusion strategies tackle poverty at

a higher rate than those that do not. Leading the charge, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s National

Strategy for Financial Inclusion capitalizes on global trends and focuses heavily on ensuring that majority

of Filipinos have access to electronic transaction accounts.


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Over the next five years, Filipinos will benefit from new, more affordable and innovative e-payment

products, an increased number of outlets through which to spend electronic money (e-money), improved

transparency and accountability in their transactions with government, and a strong regulatory

environment that protects consumers. The exponential growth in e-payments will stimulate private sector

investment where all adult Filipinos have access to critical financial services and set the stage for a more

inclusive society.

To fulfill PFG goals and E-PESO objectives, the activity focuses on four components:

Component 1: Rapid Adoption of E-payments in Financial Systems. Incentivizing

adoption of e-payments, the activity supports digitization of large-scale payment streams in both

the private and public sectors. E-PESO will provide technical assistance to GPH agencies in

improving their services by expanding the use of e-money and e-payments in government-to-

person (G2P) and person-to-government (P2G) payments. E-PESO also works to bring the

benefits of digital payments to targeted businesses that have national reach or local impact,

including businesses such as those from the fast-moving consumer goods industry that have large

retail payment flows.

Component 2: Infrastructure for E-payments Expanded. To increase the value

proposition to customers using e-payment instruments, E-PESO promotes interoperability among

the various digital finance products, services and players (e.g. mobile devices, ATMs, debit/credit

and stored value cards, electronic fund transfers (EFT), banks, e-money issuers, payment service

providers, e-money agent networks and other financial service providers). E-PESO also supports

the complex array of front-end and back-end providers, backstopping them to connect users as

well as reduce transaction and search costs.

Component 3: Enabling Environment for E-payments Improved. Building trust,

convenience, and security in e-payments, E-PESO supports the BSP in its initiative to establish a

National Retail Payment System (NRPS), intended to rationalize the fragmented payments system

into an interoperable and interconnected one. E-PESO provides technical assistance as BSP

oversees the implementation of the NRPS. The activity likewise provides technical assistance and

training to support BSP in promoting digital security, consumer protection, e-payments

confidence, financial inclusion, and e-payment stability within the broader payment system.

Component 4 (cross-cutting): E-payment Ecosystem Developed in Key Cities

Identified under USAID’s Cities Development Initiative (CDI). Promoting global

knowledge sharing of emerging trends, E-PESO identifies and addresses supply and demand

constraints inhibiting broader e-payment usage, including addressing policy and regulatory gaps. E-

PESO also supports the expansion of e-payment ecosystems with focus on key cities identified

under USAID’s CDI.


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2. ACTIVITY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS

2.1 Progress Narrative

Indicators Year 1

Actual

Year 2

Actual

Year 3

Annual

Target

Y3/Q3

Target

for the

Quarter

Y3/Q

Actual

for the

Quarter

Performance

Achieved for

Y3/Q3, Actual

vs. Target (%)

Desired Impact (DI): Efficient, Transparent, and Inclusive Retail E-Payment System Contributing to Broad-

based Growth

Indicator DI 1&2: Increased economic

opportunity,

a. Number of e-payment users(a)(d)

New

Cumulative

b. Percent of population 15 years old and above

who are e-payment users(b)

0

10.9

million

16.1%

0.503

million

11.4

million

16.2%

0.45

million

11.85

million

16.5%

--

--

--

--

--

--

n/a

n/a

n/a

Indicator DI 3: Transparency and efficiency of the retail payment system improved. (This indicator will be tracked under

outcome Indicator 3.1 - Financial regulation refined to manage growth of e-payments.)

Indicator DI 4: More predictable and

reliable financial tools for the poor,

Number of financial products, services

or applications that are

designed/enhanced to meet the needs of

low income clients,

New

Cumulative

0

0

1

1

2

3

0

1

0

1

--

100%

Desired Purpose (DP): Scope of E-Payment Usage Reaches Tipping Point for Scale

Indicator DP 1: E-payments

accounting for at least 10% of all retail

payment transactions,

Percent of e-payments accounting for

retail payment transactions

1.03% 2.76% 5.32% -- -- n/a

Indicator DP 2: Growth in the

number of active e-payment users to

reach scale,(c)

Number of active e-payment users,

New

Cumulative

0

6.9

million

--

10.2

million

0.4

million

10.9

million

--

--

--

--

n/a

n/a

Notes:

(a) Baseline for e-payment users refer to registered e-money accounts as of December 2014.

(b) Number of e-payment users over number of Philippine population aged 15 years old and above derived from the

Philippines Statistic Authority (PSA) census projections (http://www.nscb.gov.ph/secstat/d_popnProj.asp, accessed May 17,

2016).

(c) Baseline from Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) Philippines Country Diagnostic Study, July 2015. However, yearly targets

are derived from the 2016 Philippine Individual Payments Baseline Study that covers all types of electronic card instruments

(ATM/debit cards, credit cards, pre-paid cards, and e-money cards). Updated based on USAID approval of March 1, 2017

to reduce E-PESO work requirements.


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(d) Baseline from Inclusive Finance Advocacy Staff of BSP as of December 2014. Yearly targets are derived from the BTCA

Philippines Country Diagnostic Study, July 2015, and the 2016 Philippine Individual Payments Baseline Study that covers all

types of electronic card instruments (ATM/debit cards, credit cards, pre-paid cards, and e-money cards).

* Proposed changes to target.

- Philippine Household Survey on Payments renamed to 2016 Philippine Individual Payments Baseline Study

There are no changes in the Desired Impact and Desired Purpose indicators as most of these are measured

on an annual, if not bi-annual, basis. The following gives an overview of how the indicators are measured.

For Indicators DI 1&2, E-PESO used baseline data provided by the Inclusive Finance Advocacy Office

(IFAO) of the BSP and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) census projections. The data is based on

the number of e-money accounts reported by e-money issuers. It excludes data on ownership and usage

of credit cards, debit cards linked to deposit accounts, as well as prepaid cards issued by entities that are

not supervised by the BSP. However, with the use of E-PESO’s 2016 Philippine Individual Payments

Baseline Study, the data will now include credit cards, ATM/debit cards, pre-paid cards, and e-money

linked cards. Further, Indicators DI 1&2 only have annual targets since the method to track the indicator

is through surveys conducted once every two years by E-PESO. Hence, there is no additional quarterly

target to report. On the other hand, financial tools referred in Indicator DI 4 are products, services,

educational materials, technology and the like that allows access and use of e-payments by the poor.

Indicator DI 4 has a target of two for Year 3. To measure e-payment usage reaching the tipping point for scale, Indicator DP 1 data is derived from the

Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) Philippines Country Diagnostic Study that looked into e-payments

transactions across individuals, businesses, and government. However, targets are derived from the USAID

E-PESO 2016 Philippine Individual Payments Baseline Study and the PSA population projections for 2015

and 2020. Similar to Indicators DI 1&2, Indicators DP 1 and 2 only have annual targets since the method

to track the indicators is through the 2016 Philippine Individual Payments Baseline Study conducted once

every two years. Hence, there is no quarterly target nor results.


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Component 1: Rapid Adoption of e-Payments in Financial System

Indicators Year 1

Actual

Year 2

Actual

Year 3

Annual

Target

Y3/Q3

Target

for the

Quarter

Y3/Q3

Actual

for the

Quarter

Performance

Achieved for

Y3/Q3, Actual

vs. Target (%)

Desired Outcome 1: Rapid Adoption of E-Payments in Financial Systems

Indicator 1.1: Adoption of new e-

payment services as collection/

disbursement option in five (5) national

GPH agencies,

New

Cumulative

1

1

1

2

1

3

0

2

0

2

--

100%

Indicator 1.2: Adoption of m-money and e-

payments in all cities of PFG CDI and other

cities/municipalities,

Number of CDIs (and other

cities/municipalities) that introduced or

enhanced m-money and e-payment options,

New

Cumulative

3

3

3

6

3

9

1

8

0

6

--

75%

Indicator 1.3: New e-payment

implementation and adoption by 300 (small,

medium, and large) businesses,

Number of businesses introducing or

enhancing e-payment options as a result of E-

PESO support,

New

Cumulative

4

4

1

5

95

100

30

70

0

5

--

7.14%

Indicator 1.4: Over 16,000 people trained

(via consumer education) on the uses of e-

payments and m-money services for

improved household financial management,

Number of people trained (via consumer

education) on the uses of e-payments,

New

Cumulative

272

272

8,876

9,148

852

10,000

352

9,500

353

9,501

100%

100%

E-PESO is currently working with the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) and PhilHealth to support

their plans to adopt or expand collection of payments and contributions through electronic payment

channels. These were initially scheduled to be launched for the quarter, but both projects have been

experiencing delays due to long legal and technical reviews among government inter-agency partners.

Implementation by Land Bank of the Philippines’ (LBP) Electronic Payment Portal, an off-the-shelf product

that can be launched in about six weeks, is experiencing a delay due to the pending MOA between LBP

and NMIS. LBP is insisting that MOA should be tripartite among LBP, NMIS and the Bureau of Treasury

(BTr), while BTr is maintaining that they need not be involved. Discussions regarding an agreement

between the two agencies is already on its sixth month. E-PESO will assist by working to identify LBP’s

issue/s behind its position, and if necessary, will try to reconcile this position with BTr’s.

E-PESO’s talks with PhilHealth to finalize the MOU began in early Q4 2016 with the timeline to sign the

MOU by December 2016 and immediately begin working afterwards, however, MOU negotiations are still

pending though coordination with both NMIS and PhilHealth continues. Meanwhile, E-PESO is looking for

opportunities to implement online payments at Philhealth with DBP even before signing of the MOU

between Philhealth and USAID.


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E-PESO is also assisting DBM in rolling out the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS) to switch

all national government agencies (NGAs) from cash/check to electronic payments using PESONET (batch

EFT) ACH. It will be implemented at DSWD, DepEd, and DPWH within the life of project. Subsequently,

it will be rolled out to the rest of NGAs. For more details on E-PESO’s work with NGAs, please see

section 2.2 on Implementation Status.

For the quarter, E-PESO continued to see a lag in the adoption of e-payments by targeted businesses. The

lag is caused by delays in completing the payment value chain for these businesses. E-PESO is currently

working with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to expand e-payment collection capability for all tax

payments. To extend the value chain to effect electronic payment over a wide base of businesses, E-PESO

is also working to link BIR’s internet payment capability to Computerized Accounting Software (CAS) and

Tax Software products with large business user bases. These providers are Xero, Ten Elleven, and

Taxumo. Although the BIR internet payment gateway is technically ready for launch and most of these

providers are ready to integrate, the project experienced delays in securing approvals from BIR to allow

the launch. The delay was also caused by the replacement of an Assistant Commissioner (AsCom) tasked

to review and approve the project at the end of the project, prompting another review of the documents

and policies by the new official. Once the AsCom’s approval is obtained, the potential businesses that will

be adopting e-payments would be the customer base of the software providers which, for Xero alone,

number more than 3,000. Details may be found under section 2.2 on Implementation Status.

Concurrently, E-PESO continued to support cities under the CDI for Year 3 Quarter 3, such as Batangas

City, Cagayan de Oro City, Puerto Princesa City, Quezon City, Valenzuela City, and Zamboanga City as

well as the municipality of Pulilan, Bulacan. E-PESO also continued to expand work on e-payment with

new CDI Tagbilaran City and continuing dialogues with Iloilo City. As a result of working with E-PESO,

partners such as Mynt and OmniPay were inspired to penetrate other Metro Manila LGUs such as Makati

City and the City of Manila respectively for e-payments on their own initiative, showing the commercial

viability of the LGU market.

For Quarter 3, the target of one additional CDI city adopting e-payments was not met. The launch of

Iloilo City’s online business permit payments using Visa credit card and selected Bancnet ATM cards took

place last April 5, 2017. However, the e-payments was not yet made available to the public pending some

policy gaps identified by the city’s IT head. By FY3 Q3, there is still a backlog of two cities/municipalities

out of the total target of eight. Previous plan called for launch of e-payments services in Ilo-ilo City and

in either of Puerto Princesa City or Tagbilaran City. For more details on Ilo-ilo, Puerto Princesa and

Tagbilaran Cities, please see section 2.2 on Implementation Status.

The transition from previous approach of working directly with the LGUs involving domestic travel, to

working through partners (e.g. DBP, LBP, LGU IT systems providers), due to budget guidance from

USAID, contributed to the temporary delays in e-payments adoption by the three LGUs. Nonetheless,

the effort by E-PESO in working with partners to offer and implement e-payments to LGUs outside CDIs

is paying off as both DICT and Rameses have incorporated e-payments functionality in their eBPLS and E-

Tracs LGU IT systems, respectively. eBPLS was launched in July 2017 and already has 2 LGUs as its

installed base with over 100 LGUs committing to implement it by signing MOUs with DICT. E-Tracs has

50 LGU users. Therefore, we are confident that the targets will not only be met but exceeded.


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Component 2: Infrastructure for e-Payments Expanded

Indicators Year 1

Actual

Year 2

Annual

Year 3

Annual

Target

Y3/Q3

Target

for the

Quarter

Y3/Q3

Actual

for the

Quarter

Performance

Achieved for

Y3/Q3, Actual

vs. Target (%)

Desired Outcome 2: Infrastructure for E-Payments Expanded

Indicator 2.1: Growth of front-end e-

payment infrastructure expanded,

Number of institutions supported by E-PESO

to improve and/or expand their front-end

infrastructure,

New

Cumulative

10

10

8

18

5

23

0

18

2

21

200%

117%

Indicator 2.2: Back-end e-payment

infrastructure strengthened,

Number of institutions supported by E-PESO

to improve and/or expand their back-end

infrastructure,

New

Cumulative

10

10

5

15

5

20

0

15

0

15

--

100%

Indicator 2.3: E-payment infrastructure

gaps identified,

Number of gap analysis reports at industry

or ecosystem level(a),

New

Cumulative

0

0

3

3

0

3

0

3

0

3

--

100%

Notes: (a) This indicator refers to gap analysis reports done in large scale among industry players or the payments ecosystem.

This does not refer to infrastructure gap analysis done at the firm level or agency level.

* Proposed changes to target.

E-PESO achieved progress in Quarter 2 under Component 2 despite not having a Component Lead or

any full-time staff. As a result of Component’s 4 team’s effort, two more LGUs completed their front-end

inftrastructure for e-payments, namely Tagbilaran and Ilo-ilo Cities. For Indicator 2.2, clearing participants,

through the ACH working groups, continue to work on the priority ACH agreements, particularly PESO

Net and InstaPay. Until the rules and agreements have been formalized (currently targeted end of

September 2017), in accordance with NRPS principles, payment streams will continue to follow current

rules as instituted in PCHC and BancNet. Furthermore, preparations for a national Institutional Baseline

Payments Study has begun, which will be completed by Quarter 4. The study aims to establish the scale,

scope, and requirements of merchants or businesses to adopt e-payment products and services offered

by financial institutions.


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Component 3: Enabling Environment for E-payments Improved

Indicators Year 1

Actual

Year 2

Actual

Year 3

Annual

Target

Y3/Q3

Target

for the

Quarter

Y3/Q3

Actual

for the

Quarter

Performance

Achieved for

Y3/Q3, Actual

vs. Target (%)

Desired Outcome 3: Enabling Environment for E-Payments Improved

Indicator 3.1: Financial regulation

refined to manage growth of e-payments,

a. No. of circulars, regulations, and/or

local ordinances refined or clarified to

support e-payment growth,

New

Cumulative

b. No. of public-private dialogues to

support strengthening e-payment

environment,

New

Cumulative

2

2

7

7

5

7

10

17

3

10

3

20

--

8

1

18

--

8

2

23

--

100%

200%

127%

Indicator 3.2: Increased competition

among m-money and e-payment platforms,

Number of policies removed or added to

reduce barriers and encourage

competition(a),

New

Cumulative

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

--

--

Indicator 3.3: Interoperability in the

national payment system achieved(b),

Level of Interoperability.

Batch EFT

Real-time EFT

0

0

4

1

2

2

--

--

--

--

--

--

Indicator 3.4: Increased consumer

awareness and trust in e-payments(c)

,

a. % of population 15 years old and

over aware of e-payments,

b. % of population 15 years old and

over that trust the e-payment(d) system

25.6%

52.0%

67.73%

61.46%

69.0%

63.0%

--

--

--

--

--

--

Indicator 3.5: Security measures in e-

payments strengthened,

No. of guidelines developed and forums

held that promote awareness on digital

security best practices or consumer

protection,

New

Cumulative

0

0

1

1

0

1

0

1

1

3

--

300%

Indicator 3.6: Global knowledge-

sharing on e-payments promoted,

a. No. of articles promoting e-

payments

New

Cumulative

b. No. of global knowledge-sharing

events that highlight the Philippines e-

payment environment/players

New

14

14

2

2

18

32

5

7

4

36

1

8

2

34

0

7

12

44

1

8

600%

129%

--

114%


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Cumulative

Notes:

(a) Increased competition among m-money and e-payment platforms is a contextual indicator. This indicator refers to the

number of policies removed or added to reduce barriers and encourage competition in e-payments. In collaboration with the

BSP, targets shall be determined after identifying policies that foster competition.

(b) Interoperability in the national payment system achieved is a qualitative indicator. This tracks milestones in the

development of the NRPS. Interoperability is measured through 5 levels: 1) Theoretically interoperable; 2) Technically

interoperable; 3) Functionally interoperable; 4) Interconnected; and, 5) Effectively interconnected as explained by the Alliance

for Financial Inclusion (AFI).

(c) The reason for the significant jump from baseline to Year 1 is due to different data sources. Baseline figure is derived

from the National Baseline Study on Financial Inclusion by the BSP with awareness and transparency rating on e-money and

ATMs as a proxy to awareness and trust respectively. However, yearly targets are derived from the Philippine Household

Survey on Payments that covers all types of electronic card instruments (ATM/debit cards, credit cards, pre-paid cards, and

e-money cards). The approach done by the payments study is a more reliable basis for target setting due to slightly different

method used in the baseline study by the BSP. The payments study asked more direct questions on awareness and trust

unlike the BSP financial inclusion study that uses only e-money as a proxy for awareness.

(d) For E-PESO, e-payment targets refer to electronic card instruments used for e-payments. These instruments include credit

cards, ATM/debit cards, pre-paid cards and e-money cards issued by banks and non-bank e-money issuers.

* Proposed changes to targets.

** Year 3 to LOP targets for Indicator 3.6b exceeded. Changes proposed adjusting to higher targets.

Indicator 3.1 looks at the laws, circulars, regulations, and ordinances enacted to support e-payment

growth. Often, there are public-private dialogues supporting efforts to introduce such rules and

regulations. For Quarter 3, E-PESO assisted the BSP in various NRPS consultations and discussions with

various payments industry stakeholders. These included addressing the following concerns:

PSMB, BAP – Further clarifications on the roles and responsibilities of the PSMB, suggestions on

the PSMB Management Office’s functions, rationale for the NRPS governance structure vis-à-vis

payments governance in other jurisdictions;

Selected Clearing Participants – Clarifications with clearing participants on concerns raised

regarding implications of current anti-money laundering provisions on electronic funds transfer,

exposure for discussion the Security Guarantee Account concept that need to be implemented

by the BSP for the clear-before-settle ACHs such as InstaPay;

Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) – Review of key NRPS concepts and how

rural banks can participate in NRPS and the ACHs, clarifications on proper representation from

the rural banks in the PSMB Board of Directors;

NATCCO, MASS-SPECC and Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) – Discussion on

possible options that may be pursued by NATCCO and MASS-SPECC, with secondary level

cooperatives, so they continue to participate as a clearing participants considering they are

currently not supervised by the BSP.

For Indicator 3.2, E-PESO continued to assist the BSP in the formulation of regulations consistent with

the NRPS-related policy directives approved by the Monetary Board in March 2017. Aside from the review

of the draft regulation on electronic banking, E-PESO likewise reviewed several previously issued circulars

on anti-money laundering and financial consumer protection, and their implications to encouraging large

scale electronic funds transfer. As a result of this review, E-PESO recommended to the BSP the following:

Ensure clarity and alignment of definitions / circulars (distinguish electronic funds transfers from

remittances);

Prohibit reception fees for electronic funds transfers;

Revisit anti-money laundering (AML) implications to electronic funds transfers;


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The need to issue supporting formal guidance which may be in the form of circular letters or

memoranda to the payments industry to explicitly clarify implications of specific provisions in

current regulations as they apply to electronic funds transfers (these would include clarifications

made in dialogues with selected clearing participants).

As reference, the Monetary Board approved the following NRPS policy directives that would be

formulated into regulations:

Amendment of Electronic Banking Regulation:

(1) Promote participation in ACHs;

(2) Require EFT service available in all electronic delivery channels; and,

(3) Make timely credit to account of beneficiary/payee.

Strengthen Settlement Risk Management

(1) Establish settlement guarantee account with BSP;

(2) Operate multiple settlement windows with PhilPaSS per day;

(3) Irrevocability of payment transactions.

Transparency and disclosure of policies and fees

Formal recognition of the incorporated PSMB as the payment industry’s governance body whose

functions and actions will be consistent with BSP’s NRPS principles

Despite extensive discussions, the BSP has yet to revise the Electronic Banking Regulation (already

reviewed by E-PESO) or formulate other new regulations.

E-PESO has selected, with BSP’s concurrence, the experts that will provide the technical assistance to the

BSP in accordance with the Digital Security Policy/Governance Scope of Work. However, a mutually

acceptable timetable of the proposed plan remains to be finalized between BSP and the selected experts.

These experts will provide recommendations that may result to new or amended guidelines and other

activities in relation to promoting digital security best practices.

Indicator 3.3 (interoperability in the NRPS achieved) is a qualitative indicator that tracks milestones in the

development of the NRPS. Interoperability is measured through five levels: 1) theoretically interoperable;

2) technically interoperable; 3) functionally interoperable; 4) interconnected; and 5) effectively

interconnected, as explained by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI). During Quarter 3, E-PESO

supported the BSP, the banks, and the payments industry in forming rules and policies to establish the

real-time EFT ACH and the batch EFT ACH and in setting the agenda towards eliminating consumer

barriers to adoption of upcoming e-payment instruments. This involved the necessary step of assisting in

the formation of the Payment System Management Body (PSMB) where the rules for the payment system

will be formed and managed and the establishment of the priority ACHs – Batch EFT (PESO Net) and

Real-Time Low Value Push (InstaPay).

Indicator 3.4 (increased consumer awareness and trust in e-payments) shows only annual targets since the

method to track the indicator is through surveys conducted by E-PESO once every two years.

Indicators 3.5 and 3.6 refer to milestones on guidelines, fora, and articles of a cross-cutting nature that

revolve around digital security, consumer protection, and knowledge sharing of best practices. Activities

related to these indicators seek to inform and support regulators, industry players, and the general public

on the latest trends on e-payments. In late Quarter 2 and early Quarter 3, a social media campaign was

implemented and analyzed to entice the public to use e-payment services of Valenzuela City.


15

Component 4: E-payment ecosystem developed in key cities identified under USAID’s CDI

Indicators Year 1

Actual

Year 2

Actual

Year 3

Annual

Target

Y3/Q3

Target

for the

Quarter

Y3/Q3

Actual

for the

Quarter

Performance

Achieved for

Y3/Q2, Actual

vs. Target (%)

2.2.3 Local Government and Decentralization(a)

2.2.3-5 Number of sub-national entities

receiving USG assistance that improve their

performance,

New

Cumulative

3

3

3

9

1

7

0

6

2

8

200%

133%

GNDR Gender(b)

GNDR-2 Percentage of female participants in

USG-assisted programs designed to increase

access to productive economic resources

(assets, credit, income or employment,

For the year

Cumulative as of the year

85%

85%

72%

73%

50%

50%

--

--

40%

72%

n/a

n/a

PPP Public/Private Partnerships(c)

PPP3 Number of organizations (for and not-for-

profit, and government) that have applied new

technologies and/or management practices due

to USG-supported Public-Private Partnerships

(PPPs),

New

Cumulative

8

8

5

13

2

15

0

13

3

16

300%

123%

Notes:

(a) This standard ‘F’ indicator measures engagement by E-PESO of sub-national entities such as local government units. This

corresponds to custom indicator “Indicator 1.2: Adoption of m-money and e-payments in all cities of PFG CDI and other

cities/municipalities.”

(b) As part of its contract, E-PESO also measures gender impact of the Activity. This indicator measures E-PESO impact on

equitable access to productive economic resources through training and similar programs for both men and women.

(c) This indicator corresponds to the sum of government and private sector partners that have applied new technologies or

management practices as a result of E-PESO supported PPP activities. This is derived from custom indicators “Indicator 1.1:

Adoption of new e-payment services as collection/disbursement option in five (5) national GPH agencies”, “Indicator 1.2:

Adoption of m-money and e-payments in all cities of PFG CDI and other cities/municipalities,

Number of CDIs (and other cities/municipalities) that introduced or enhanced m-money and e-payment options”, and

“Indicator 1.3: New e-payment implementation and adoption by 500 (small, medium, and large) businesses.”


16

Below are additional new standard indicators added beginning October 2016.

Standard Indicators Year 2

Actual

Year 3

Actual

(as of 6/30/17)

Year 4

Target

LOP

Target

EG.4.2-1

Total number of clients benefiting from financial services

provided through USG-assisted financial intermediaries,

including non-financial institutions or actors (a)

New

Cumulative

8,876 9,148

353 9,501

3,000 13,000

16,000 EG.4.2-2

Number of financial intermediaries serving poor

households and microenterprises supported by USG

assistance (b)

New

Cumulative

0 0

1 1

2 3

5

Notes:

(a) Derived from number of people trained (via consumer education) on the uses of e-payments

(b) Direct count of financial intermediaries including banks, microfinance institutions, and cooperatives

Overall, efforts by USAID E-PESO to support the adoption of e-payments have not only been far reaching,

but also cross-cutting in the areas of transparency, public-private partnership, financial inclusion, and

gender. As of Quarter 3, E-PESO has rolled out three more learning events to train 353 individuals of

which 40% are women. In terms of cumulative numbers, E-PESO has already trained more than 9,500

individuals of whom 72% are women. This figure does not yet include the tens of thousands of users

already transacting electronically. Additionally, working with E-PESO partners LandBank and DBP have

allowed the adoption of e-payment options among LGUs. With government agencies and local

governments mandated to bank only with government depository banks such as the two partners, efforts

at e-payments adoption have been faster with their support. This has also translated to receiving salaries

and benefits, or paying taxes electronically, by ordinary citizens touched by LGUs such as government

employees, micro and small entrepreneurs, and senior citizens.

2.2 Implementation Status

Component 1 and 2: Rapid Adoption of E-payments in Financial Systems; Infrastructure for

E-payments Expanded

Department of Budget and Management (DBM)

E-PESO intends to give technical assistance to DBM in implementing the Budget and Treasury Management

System (BTMS) to all national government agencies (NGAs). This is aims to provide a more efficient way

to manage budget and treasury management functions, including switching all NGA payments of

government contractors, suppliers, employees, beneficiaries/grantees, and all payees to electronic

payments. E-PESO intends to:

1. Provide DBM with a Learning Management System (LMS) platform.

2. Provide a walkthrough / orientation to DBM personnel on how to perform functions within the

LMS (enrollment, completion, quiz reporting, and basic system trouble-shooting).


17

3. Train and transfer knowledge at DBM head office to one class or one batch of DBM personnel

on the following:

a. Authoring/creating/modifying e-Learning course modules

b. Deploying e-Learning course modules on the LMS

c. LMS system administration function

4. Provide project management support up to the first three NGA roll-out of the project.

5. Provide source codes for the e-Learning modules and the LMS, that will enable DBM to manage,

edit, or update the learning modules at a later time.

E-PESO is currently in discussion with DBM to finalize the MOU, and has started exploratory

discussions with candidate LMS developers.

Department of Transportation (DOTr)

USAID E-PESO continues to meet with representatives of the DOTr and other industry stakeholders to

explore the opportunity of implementing e-payments on all public land transportation modes. Although

there is currently an Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS) provider for the public transport light

rail lines, DOTr is looking to expand the use of e-payments, specifically contactless payment, to other

transport modes such as buses, taxis, and even jeepneys. Unlike the AFCS being implemented in the train

lines, DOTr envisions a system where ideally all types of contactless payment cards from different issuers

are accepted.

This initiative is also in line with the DOTr’s Road-Based Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program,

which aims to improve not only the vehicles’ safety standards, but improve payment modes as well. DOTr

is currently looking at technical standards that ensure all contactless cards can be accommodated in the

system.

E-PESO is currently discussing with DOTr how it can support the electronic payment leg of the Road-

Based Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)

E-PESO is still working with the BIR in expanding their electronic payment capability. This includes working

with implementing partners such as the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Land Bank of the

Philippines (LBP), and PayMaya for electronic payment of taxes.

Among the three partners, DBP is closest to launch having already developed and tested the internet

payment gateway with BIR. DBP’s service will allow taxpayers to pay using Visa, Mastercard, and Bancnet

cards. The service is ready for launch pending some approvals from some groups within BIR.

LBP is currently conducting internal testing on their implementation of the electronic payment portal for

BIR. LBP shall be able to conduct an acceptance testing with BIR by the end of July 2017. On the other

hand, PayMaya has finished development and internal testing of their electronic payment implementation

for BIR. This will enable PayMaya users to pay taxes using their PayMaya electronic money account.

PayMaya is now looking to schedule a user acceptance testing with BIR.

In addition to e-payment of taxes, E-PESO is working with Computerized Accounting Software (CAS)

providers and Tax Software providers with the aim of linking these products to BIR’s electronic payment

capability. The goal is to enable all enterprise users of these CAS and Tax Software products to pay their

corporate taxes electronically.


18

E-PESO continues to work with Xero, Ten Elleven, and Taxumo in facilitating discussions with BIR and

DBP to explore how these providers may be able to connect to DBP’s internet payment gateway.

Furthermore, as tax software products are relatively new to BIR, E-PESO is assisting Ten Elleven and

Taxumo in dialogues with BIR to explore accreditation, if needed, and what processes and requirements

there may be if such an accreditation is deemed necessary. E-PESO has arranged a meeting between the

AsCom involved and the CAS and tax software providers to facilitate the approval. Meanwhile, E-PESO

will discuss and prepare plans with both BIR and the software providers about rolling out a marketing

campaign once the approval from the AsCom is obtained so that the enterprise clients of the software

providers can immediately adopt and use e-payments for paying their taxes to BIR.

Philhealth and Pag-ibig Fund

As mentioned earlier, E-PESO has been participating in on-going talks with Philhealth for adoption of e-

payments in their disbursement and collection activities. A memorandum of understanding is under review

by Philhealth. E-PESO also had talks with Pag-Ibig Fund and discovered that the Fund is already accepting

various forms of electronic payment. Pag-Ibig Fund, however, has expressed interest in participating in the

NRPS to see how else they can improve on the efficiency of their collection and disbursements.

National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS)

NMIS is keen on adopting electronic payments, and with the assistance of E-PESO, is currently working

with Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to enable NMIS to collect payments through LBP’s Electronic

Payment Portal.

The NMIS is a specialized regulatory agency under the Department of Agriculture and functions as the

country’s sole national controlling authority on all matters pertaining to meat inspection and

hygiene. NMIS promulgates and implements policies, procedures, guidelines, rules and regulations

governing post-production flow of livestock, meat, and meat products (both locally produced and

imported) through various stages of marketing and proper handling, inspection, processing, storage and

preservation of such products.

Currently, collection of fees due to NMIS is done as an additional function of meat inspectors. NMIS

administration is seeking to improve on this arrangement for the following reasons:

1. Safety of their meat inspectors;

2. Collection depends on the availability of the meat inspector and can be infrequent;

3. Collection is not the primary role of the meat inspector;

4. Revenue leakage due to non-remittance of collection by some meat inspectors; and,

5. Tardy remittance of collection to main office, which compounds the difficulty in reconciling inspection

reports with money collected, and the generation of delinquent accounts.

NMIS total collection roughly amounts to Php 140 million per year, with approximately 460 accredited

meat establishments across the country. NMIS is currently at the engagement stage with LBP.


19


NRPS Action Areas

The following NRPS Action Areas were recommended to the BSP in November 2015 to focus on

initiatives in implementing the NRPS. This continues to be used as a framework for detailing the initiatives

and actions.

Oversight and Risk Management

In discussions with the BSP’s NRPS Core Team, E-PESO, through its Payments Advisor Mr. Johann

Bezuidenhoudt, identified and recommended the following oversight and risk management functions to be

considered to manage and monitor NRPS progress:

Payments performance monitoring and analysis – This includes the definition of scope and key payment

terms. On the specific indicators, E-PESO reviewed with the BSP the recommendations included in

the previously submitted report entitled “Suggestions on Measurable Indicators to Track Retail

Payment Progress”. The BSP will still have to finalize and detail NRPS indicators vis-à-vis overall BSP

strategic objectives;

Monitoring of BSP Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFI) compliance and conformance to directives

– It was recommended that BSP must strategize how the compliance and conformance to various

NRPS-related directives will be monitored. The internal BSP department/s to perform this function

must likewise be identified; and,

Payment Fraud Monitoring and Management – It was likewise recommended that BSP consider the

monitoring and management of payment fraud.

NRPS Action Areas

Oversight and Risk Manage-

ment

Policies / Circulars / Regulatory

Actions

Direct

Actions – Payments Industry

Direct

Actions – Govt

Agencies

Internal BSP

Programs

Communications

Reporting New PSMB

EFT

Launch

Revised

BSP Organizati

on


20

Policies / Circulars / Regulatory Actions

The following circulars were identified and confirmed as consistent with the NRPS-related policy

directions approved by the Monetary Board last 09 March 2017 (MB Resolution No. 418). The timing of

regulation issuance was agreed with the NRPS Team:

Electronic Banking (may be consolidated in an overall NRPS circular; must be issued before the

operationalization of the priority ACHs)

Participants be required to make Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) service available in all their

electronic delivery channels; and,

Timely credit to account of payee – same day value for batch EFT and immediate for InstaPay

Settlement Risk Management (must be issued before operationalization of InstaPay ACH)

More frequent clearing/settlement

Establishment of Settlement Guarantee Account and management processes with BSP

Irrevocability of transaction and mitigation of settlement risk

Consumer Protection (may be included in the NRPS circular)

Payee/beneficiary must receive the amount in full;

Transparency and Disclosure of Policies and Fees; and,

Abolition of the reception fee where funds are electronically deposited directly into a payee’s

account as the receiving bank does not have any substantial costs to justify the fees

Recognition of the PSMB (after PSMB incorporation)

The NRPS Core Team’s draft electronic banking circular was reviewed in May 2017. Comments and

recommendations were made on the rationale, scope and structure of the circular. The revision of the

electronic banking circular is still ongoing.

Aside from the issuance of circulars, E-PESO also recommended the issuance of guidance notes or circular

letters to formalize what BSP wants from the industry as inputs to the clearing rules to ensure consistency

and alignment of rules to NRPS principles. The following were recommended:

Clarification / explicit statements on clearing whichever institution initiated the payment is

responsible for the know your customer (KYC);

Optional clearing / business rules that may be exclusionary (i.e. account name matching);

Double cycle real-time EFT (validation and confirmation / clearance pass);

Clarification of interpretation of account to account e-payments; and

Settlement agreement signatories

Previously issued remittance-related circulars were also reviewed. It was identified that the current

circulars do not exclude electronic funds transfers, thus resulting to the following implications:

Sender only pays provision does not remove the reception fee (retaining of the reception fee and

its contribution to the high cost of e-payment will not encourage utilization despite

interoperability);


21

AML implications / requirements discourage financial institutions from offering / growing e-

payments; and

AML implications / requirements discourage sponsorship into settlement of non-bank EMIs.

The following were also recommended to the NRPS Core Team:

Ensure clarity and alignment of definitions / circulars (distinguish e-payments from remittances);

Prohibit e-payment reception fees; and,

Revisit AML implications to e-payments

Direct Actions with the Payments Industry

Payments System Management Body (PSMB) Incorporation and Set-up of Management Office

The PSMB Management Office completed the following after the signing of the PSMB Charter and Terms

of Reference on March 31, 2017:

Draft Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws (reviewed by the BSP to be consistent with NRPS

principles);

Selection of incorporators (the members of the BAP Executive Committee from 2016 – 2017 and

2017 – 2018 who acted / are acting as the interim PSMB Board of Directors until the PSMB has

been incorporated and a Board of Directors, consistent with NRPS principles, have been elected);

Determination of basis for joining and annual fees; and

Decision on PSMB’s corporate name – Philippine Payments Management, Inc. (PPMI)

It was originally intended that the PPMI would have submitted its application for incorporation to the

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before June 30, 2017. However, due to additional

clarifications, the PSMB was unable to submit the incorporation papers pending further dialogues with the

BSP.

In meetings with the PSMB PMO in May, E-PESO reviewed with the BSP and the PSMB PMO the functions

of the PSMB. To support the PSMB in performing these functions, a PSMB Executive / Management Office

needs to be established. In this regard, E-PESO presented as an example the South African structures that need to be supported by the PSMB Management Office. The PSMB Management Office functions were likewise discussed.

Priority Automated Clearing House (ACH) Formulation

As the priority ACH working groups continued to work on their respective agreements, several

clarification meetings were conducted to review key concepts and address outstanding concerns. Most of

these issues and concerns were related to the application of current remittance and AML regulations.

Direct Actions with Government Agencies

BSP will need to collaborate with other government agencies. Specifically, it may need to engage other

government agencies for policy alignment and transaction generation.

For alignment of policies, the following government agencies were identified with the BSP: Commission

on Audit, Department of Finance, Bureau of Internal Revenue.


22

It was identified that other government agencies that BSP may need to collaborate with are the Philippine

Competition Commission, National Privacy Commission, Department of Trade and Industry, Department

of Information and Communications Technology.

For transaction generation, the BSP and E-PESO have already initiated dialogues with the Bureau of

Treasury (BTr) as a prospective direct clearing participant, generating disbursements through Batch EFT.

It was discussed how BSP shall be allowed to participate in clearing without violating the NRPS principles

and framework.

Internal BSP Programs

In early 2016, the BSP identified key internal processes within BSP that need to be shifted from cash-only

to electronic payments. The status of these internal programs was not discussed. It was emphasized

nevertheless that the BSP must walk the talk the demonstrate to the industry that it practices and

implements its own NRPS principles for internal BSP-processes.

Communications

BSP’s communications plans and key messages were not discussed. However, a report on “Written

suggestions on elements to be considered during the development of a NRPS communication plan by the

BSP” has been previously provided by E-PESO.

BSP Organization (Internal BSP Payment Systems Development Oversight Office)

The NRPS Core Team sought for assistance as BSP forms the permanent internal organization performing

the function that the NRPS Core team currently performs. At the moment, the office is referred to as the

Payment Systems Development Oversight Office (PSDOO). In discussions with the E-PESO, various

functions and corresponding competencies of an oversight office that may be required were identified.

These were used as an input to the NRPS Team and BSP’s Human Resource Representatives.

Recommendations on various strategies in acquiring the required payments knowledge and competencies

to perform the functions identified.

E-PESO formulated the following matrix based on the discussions and recommendations. This was

provided to the NRPS Team and BSP HR representatives for consideration:

POLICY

FORMULATION

OVERSIGHT DIRECT ACTIONS and

COMMUNICATIONS

Functions Payments policy

formulation resulting to

circulars and other

regulation or guidance to

the industry

Payments

performance

monitoring and

analysis

Monitoring of

BSFI compliance

and

conformance to

directives

Payment fraud

Monitoring and

Management

Oversight of the

PSO

Stakeholder Management

and Collaboration:

With Industry (PSMB)

With Other

Government Agencies

Other External

Stakeholders (including

international

organizations)

Internal Stakeholders

End Users (general

awareness)


23

Competencies

Required

Retail Payments

Risk Specialist

Payments

Specialist

knowledge (i.e.

cards, funds

transfer)

Audit

Other Outstanding Issues

E-PESO also assisted the BSP on other issues / matters beyond the NRPS Action Areas identified.

Discussions on Implications to NATCCO and MASS-SPECC

Two federations of cooperatives – NATCCO and MASS-SPECC – are current members of BancNet and

participate as direct clearing participants for ATM and POS services. As they are not BSP supervised

financial institutions, they will be not be qualified to be direct clearing participants as defined under the

NRPS framework. The following options were discussed with NATCCO, MASS-SPECC and the

Cooperative Development Authority (CDA):

For NATCCO and MASS-SPECC to become indirect clearing participants;

For NATCCO’s and MASS-SPECC’s members become indirect clearing participants;

For NATCCO and MASS to become non-bank electronic money issuers (EMIs);

For NATCCO and MASS-SPECC to set-up an EMI as a subsidiary company;

A coop bank (which may be one of their members) may be the direct clearing participant, outsourcing

the technical and operational functions to MASS-SPECC and NATCCO; and

BSP to supervise NATCCO and MASS-SPECC under the Financial Services Cooperative (still no

implementing rules and regulations)

Further discussions with NATCCO, MASS-SPECC and the CDA will be conducted in June 2017.

E-PESO Reports

The following E-PESO reports prepared by Payment Advisor Mr. Johann Bezuidenhoudt have already been

submitted to BSP and USAID since 2015 to date:

Interim NRPS Program Report;

Technical Guidance Report on the Establishment of a BSP NRPS PMO and a PSMB PMO;

Written suggestions on elements to be considered during the development of a NRPS

communication plan by the BSP;

Paper on Good Practices in Bill Payment;

Recommendations for ACH Formulation, Batch EFT ACH and InstaPay ACH;

Recommended Settlement Guarantee Mechanism Options; and

Position Paper on Costing Methodology vis-à-vis acquirer based costing.

The following reports are still to be drafted and submitted:

Recommendations on PSMB Set-up; and,

Final Recommendations on NRPS Implementation Strategy


24

Digital Security Policy / Governance Technical Assistance

E-PESO interviewed the prospective digital security policy/governance experts to provide technical

assistance to the BSP in accordance with the Digital Security Policy/Governance Scope of Work. The

shortlisted candidates were recommended to BSP’s Core IT Specialist Group’s (CITSG) Head, Deputy

Director Mr. Melchor Plabasan, for consideration and selection. A mutually acceptable timetable of the

engagement (currently working on 4th Quarter 2017 to 1st Quarter 2018) still has to be finalized between

BSP and the selected experts. These experts will provide the recommendations that may result in the new

or amended guidelines and/or other activities in relation to promoting digital security best practices as

well as the conduct of trainings for the following topics:

Securing and auditing the cloud environment;

Cybersecurity Essentials and Cybersecurity Assessment Framework (which is consistent with the

CPMI or NIST Cyber Resilience Framework);

Security of ATM and Online/Mobile Banking Environment and other Emerging Channels (eg NFC

contactless, Host Card Emulation) – preferably with practical knowledge of current Philippine

environment; and,

Basic concepts on Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).

USAID / E-PESO 9th Quarterly (Y3 Q3) Report 25

25

Component 4: E-payment ecosystem developed in key cities identified under USAID’s

CDI

Batangas City

Photo: E-PESO Team with USAID COR Tess Espenilla made a courtesy call to Batangas City Mayor Beverly Dimacuha.

The Batangas City’ adoption of mobile payment was put on hold after low usage during the last

business permit renewal period. Another issue was raised as Lexsys (Batangas city system provider)

did not update the assessment data for the business permit. Early this quarter, E-PESO met with the

city’s department heads including the Mayor’s office legal officer Atty. Alyssa Burbon. It was raised

that they are currently in talks with Lexsys to settle the problems with their internal systems which

will affect assessment data for real property taxes and business permit. It was agreed that Lexsys will

have to clean up the data for assessment before providing any electronic payment to assure accuracy

of the amount being assessed.


26

Iloilo City

Photo: Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) Vice President Jane

Gocuan (fourth and third from left respectively), and other representatives from the Iloilo City LGU and DBP

sign a Memorandum of Agreement for the implementation of an Internet Payment Gateway.

E-PESO gained significant headway in renewing its partnership with the City Government of Iloilo, re-

activating the GCASH mobile payment services for business taxes that the City launched in December

2014, and implementing online payment services.

The City signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Development Bank of the Philippines

(DBP) in April for the implementation of an Internet Payment Gateway that will allow the city to

integrate online payments in its Iloilo City Taxpayer’s Dashboard Service (ICTDS). The ICTDS is a

user- friendly information system for taxpayers that will supplement the city’s automated taxation

system and serve as an online point of reference for taxpayer’s related information. Aside from online

payments via the ICTDS, E-PESO and the City’s IT Department will work with developer Highly

Succeed and DBP to integrate e-payments into the newly launched CitiServ app. The LGU will also

work with Mynt on testing the connectivity between the GCASH system and LGU database. The

testing is mandatory because the service was not used after the launch and some parameters may have

changed. In parallel with the testing, GCASH needs to draft a commercial agreement/MOU with the

LGU to formalize the partnership.

Puerto Princesa City

The City Government of Puerto Princesa and Landbank of the Philippines signed memorandum of

agreement to issue debit cards to city beneficiaries and enable online payment. Card distribution to

city beneficiaries was put on hold due to changes in the executive office. While electronic payments

will be implemented through Filipizen, an online payment portal developed by Rameses, Puerto

Princesa’s solution provider, that will enable taxpayer payment for real property taxes. As part of this

effort, the Puerto Princesa IT division is going to visit Rameses Office in Cebu City for a system

demonstration and training.

In another geographic areas, Puerto Princesa City is eager on implement a tourism card. With the city

experiencing around 22 flights per day and an average of 120 passengers per flight, there are around

2,600 visitors arriving in the city each day.

The city also requires visitors to pay an environmental fee of Php 150 to visit the popular underground

river tourist attraction. The city expects to collect around Php200,000 per day or roughly Php 5.8M

per month from the site alone. Payment of environmental fee is valid for six months per visitor. The


27

card should be reusable but non-transferable. To support this initiative, a department head from

Puerto Princesa visited the Municipality of Malay for a study-tour on how Boracay implemented their

environmental fee for visitors coming in and out of the island.

Pulilan, Bulacan

E-PESO’s engagement with the Municipality of Pulilan hit a lull after the LGU terminated its mobile

money payroll disbursement partnership with BPI BanKO in January 2016. During the Quarter, E-

PESO and the LGU renewed their partnership during an alignment meeting held in May. E-PESO

briefed the Pulilan team on the project objectives, structure, work, and partnership with local

government units. E-PESO gave a recap of USAID’s partnership with Pulilan on electronic payments

and disbursement under the Scaling Innovations in Mobile Money (SIMM) Project and proceeded to

present the illustration of the proposed electronic payments/disbursements ecosystem. The proposals

are:

Citizen to government electronic payments (business taxes, real property taxes, irrigation fees

paid to the National Irrigation Administration);

Government to citizen disbursements via payment-enabled citizens’ ID card linked to mobile

wallet (senior citizens, scholars’ stipends);

Enablement/activation of seven (7) Tech4Ed centers as cash-in/cash-out (CICO) agents/bills

payment centers;

Enable businesses (stores, local transport, suppliers of farm and agricultural input) to accept

e-payments; and,

Identify farmers’ groups who can participate in the Krops platform. Krops is a platform that

bypasses market middlemen by matching buyers and sellers of agricultural products.

Mayor Maritz Montejo was amenable to USAID E-PESO’s proposal and designated coordinators/point

persons for E-PESO. The group agreed to prioritize:

Securing a legal basis for electronic payments/disbursement. In parallel to other preparatory

work, the LGU needs to secure the legal basis by drafting an ordinance authorizing the

Municipal Treasurer to accept or use alternative modes of payments. This ordinance gives the

Mayor the authority to enter in service agreements with electronic payment service providers

(EPSP).

Securing barangay approval for extending the services of the Tech4Ed center to include

transactions such as cash-in and cash-out and bills payment.

Conducting small pilots as proofs of concept. The team identified three pilot sites (Inaon,

Tinejero, Dulong Malabon. To gain insight on the spending habits of residents of the three

pilot sites, know which businesses to enable/activate, and know which strategy to employ

when designing a digital literacy program to complement the Krops rollout, a focus group

discussion (FGD) was conducted in May.


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Tagbilaran City

Photo: Participants pose for a class picture at the conclusion of the Tagbilaran City e-Payments Forum.

E-PESO organized an electronic payments forum in June, which aims to give Tagbilaran City businesses

(electric and water utility, tour operators, representatives from the hotel and resorts association, and

microfinance institutions, and schools) information on electronic payment solutions available. The

forum highlighted how e-payment solutions can expand their market and make their operations more

efficient by accepting e-payments. The forum is one of the activities under E-PESO’s strategy to spur

local e-payment ecosystems by ensuring that businesses and utilities have access to e-payment service

providers. Participants were mostly from departments that will be impacted by shifting to new payment

modes: top management, information technology (IT), and finance units.

Representatives from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Land Bank of the Philippines

(LBP), OrangeApps, and Open Space Technologies Incorporated (OSTI) gave detailed product

information, communicated the benefits of accepting e-payments, and shared testimonials from their

current clients and partners. DBP presented their Internet Payment Gateway (IPG), an online facility

that allows merchants to collect payments and fees via ATM/debit cards (BancNet) and credit cards

(Visa, with MasterCard on the pipeline). LBP presented their Electronic Payments Portal (ePP), a web-

based payment channel that accepts ATM/debit (BancNet) payments. E-PESO already introduced

OrangeApps and OSTI, a school management system and a queueing management system, to e-

payment service providers LandBank and DBP for e-payments integration and interface. Orange Apps

presented features of their solution, the Orange Apps School Management System. The system is a

cloud-based and mobile app platform that allows schools and universities to manage its entire

operations using an end-to-end solution. The platform includes a school information system, learning

management system, enterprise resource planning (ERP). OSTI, on the other hand, presented how

their solutions can be used for stand-alone payment kiosks and ticketing at ports and bus stations. The

e-payment service providers also had an opportunity to talk to participants directly and arrange for

more detailed product presentations. E-PESO devised a monitoring mechanism that will track the

status of DBP and LandBank’s milestones with the leads generated during the forum: onboarding,

negotiations, contracting, technology implementation, and launch.

E-PESO also co-organized a social media marketing, e-commerce, and e-payments workshop to enable

Tagbilaran City micro-entrepreneurs being supported by the Bohol Islands State University (BISU)

Fabrication Laboratory (FabLab) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to becoming e-

commerce merchants and thus accept e-payments. The training/workshop gave participants pointers

and tips on how to leverage social media (e.g. Instagram/Facebook) for product promotion, marketing

and enhancing their brand, introduced them to e-commerce, enhanced their photography skills and

graphics design, and set-up an e-commerce site.


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Of the ten participants, only three are adept in using the computer and navigating the Internet, four

use the Internet only to access social media but are new to e-mail, and two have beginner-level

proficiency. One participant lives in Cabilao Island and only relies on spotty cellular data to access the

Internet. The participants requested E-PESO to develop a visual, screenshot-by-screenshot guide on

how to access their e-mail, social media pages, basic e-commerce pages, and instructions on how to

complete mobile money transactions. Over the next three months, E-PESO and FabLab will be

monitoring the status of their basic e-commerce operations and design an advanced e-commerce

course to provide more hand-holding based on the results of the monitoring.

In April 2017, E-PESO visited the Bohol FabLab, a technology-based incubator laboratory funded by

DTI, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Bohol Island State University (BISU), and the

Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The lab is a technical prototyping platform that allows

grassroots communities to translate their design ideas into physical forms with the help of technology.

E-PESO and FabLab agreed to develop a training program that integrates e-payments and e-commerce

modules into the current training programs and workshop being given to local entrepreneurs.


30

Photos (above and previous): Enhanced photography skills and graphics design training for e-commerce.

Valenzuela City

To promote Valenzuela City’s online payment service for real property tax (RPT), teach taxpayers

how to register the City’s online services and complete a transaction, and induce payment of RPT

via Valenzuela Online Services using Visa-branded credit cards, E-PESO sponsored a social media

campaign via Facebook ads. Through boosted ads posted on Valenzuela City’s official Facebook page,

Facebook users were invited to visit the City’s online services page and gain knowledge about the

city’s e-payment services, encouraged to register to the service, and induced to make an online

payment.

The Facebook ad was customized to appear only to users of a certain age (25 years old and older),

within a specified location (Valenzuela City), and those who have not yet “liked” the Valenzuela City

Facebook page. This means the target audience will be engaged directly. The ads ran from March 24,

2017 (Friday) through March 29, 2017 (Wednesday). Valenzuela City’s Public Information Office

(PIO), Information Technology Department (ITD) staff, and City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) staff

tracked specified indicators (number of ad clicks and views, number of registrations to Valenzuela

Online services, and number of online payments).

The E-PESO sponsored Facebook ad (3-minute information video) promoting electronic payments

for RPT was scheduled to run on Friday, March 24 through Wednesday, March 29. The defined

target audience were as follows: mobile and desktop users within the 24-60 range, at least college

educated and lives in or frequently checks in on locations within Valenzuela City.


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Zamboanga City

Photo: USAID E-PESO’s Don Pua gives a talk on financial management and electronic payments to Zamboanga

City Hall employees.

One-hundred thirty-one (131) employees coming from various departments of the City Government

of Zamboanga were trained on financial literacy and e-payments security in a workshop organized by

the Zamboanga City Hall Human Resources Department last April 26 and 27. The workshop is part

of the city’s push for wider electronic payments services targeting both city hall employees and

constituents. The workshop featured talks from USAID E-PESO and Development Bank of the

Philippines on financial management and uses, benefits and safety features of ATM/debit cards.

2.3 Implementation Challenges

Component 1: Rapid Adoption of E-Payments in Financial Systems

One factor that is causing delay in BIR’s implementation of debit and credit card payment of taxes is

that BIR needs to design a workaround to existing policies that currently make it impossible for

government agencies to accept credit and debit card payments. Credit and debit card networks

cannot meet government requirements in remitting funds collected within the prescribed time as

there is added time in settling between card issuers and acquirers within the network.

Another challenge is very long delays in completing agreements between E-PESO and target

government agencies due to the long approval processes for the memorandum of understanding

(MOU). Even completion of agreements between government agencies and payment providers are

also experiencing similar delays. These unpredictable delays are the main reason for the non-

achievement of this quarter’s targets.

Component 2: Infrastructure for E-payments Expanded

One of the key challenges in e-payment adoption for government and businesses has been the lack of

automated core business systems that can readily integrate with e-payment platforms. Other

challenges to infrastructure expansion in e-payments include poor connectivity, relatively high-cost of

transaction devices, and inadequate back-end systems to accept and track payment transactions.


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Despite having identified the NRPS action areas and having come to agreement with the industry on

priority outputs (the formal organization of the PSMB and the operationalization of priority ACHs),

progress has been slow for the priority areas. See the diagram below to illustrate the root causes of

the implementation challenges being encountered:

The slow progress may be attributed to the following: (1) Limited BSP internal resources; (2) Limited

resources with competency and technical expertise on payment systems; (3) Continued resistance

from the private sector; and (4) Insufficient regulatory guidance.

Limited BSP internal resources for some competencies on payment systems

The internal BSP organization supporting the NRPS implementation continues to be a project team

composed of ten members including the project team head. Amongst the team, the head and three

staff are full-time while the rest are assigned to the project on an approximately 30% full-time

equivalent basis. Familiarity and understanding of payments, payment systems and issues are limited to

the full-time members of the project team. The execution and focus of the team has been fluid and

reactive as there are multiple, concurrent work streams that need to be handled.

Most of the counterparts from the payments industry are senior vice presidents and higher, with

decisions and interaction in the industry, particularly conveying BSP’s formal position on issues are

typically dependent on the project team head. There have been frequent instances when feedback to

the industry on their actions (whether to confirm, correct or guide) have been delayed or insufficient,

thus contributing to industry efforts inconsistent with NRPS principles.

Although the NRPS action areas have been identified, high-level roadmaps formulated by the team,

and various recommendations provided, there is a lacking formal strategy and project plan to support

NRPS implementation. Also, manpower is not properly maximized or utilized in accordance with

individual strengths and abilities. Therefore, the following competencies need to be acquired or

developed within the team and the permanent oversight office currently being organized:

Competency Definition

Strategic

orientation

ability to link long-range vision and concepts to daily work. It implies ability

to think conceptually and see the big picture. It includes understanding of

capabilities, nature and potentials of the project / organization.

SLOW / DELAYS IN PRIORITY

AREAS

NO / LITTLE PROGRESS IN OTHER NRPS

AREAS

SUB-OPTIMAL PLANNING

CONTINUED RESISTANCE

FROM INDUSTRY

SOME REGULATORY

CONCERNS

COMFORT WITH

CURRENT SET-UP

NO REGULATORY CERTAINTY / GUIDANCE

INEFFECTIVE COMMS /

COORDINA-TION

LACK OF BSP MANPOWER

UNDER-UTILIZED

MANPOWER

LACK OF SKILLS / COMPETEN-

CIES

BSP LACK OF PAYMENT SYSTEMS

EXPERTISE

INDUSTRY LACK OF PYMT SYSTEMS

EXPERTISE


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Competency Definition

Planning and

Organizing

ability to organize work, set priorities and determine resource

requirements to get things done; determines necessary sequence of

activities needed to achieve goals

Leadership ability to set and communicate vision and direction, effectively manage and

guide group efforts, includes providing appropriate level of feedback

concerning group progress

Presentation skills ability to effectively present ideas, information and materials in a variety of

settings; effectively prepares and provides structured delivery; facilitates

meetings in a structured manner and can facilitate/manage group processes

Negotiation and

influence

ability to facilitate positive dialogue between others with the goal of

resolving differences and reaching compromises, working cooperatively

with others to resolve issues, which impede organizational or personal

success

Results orientation focuses on the desired end result of one’s own or the unit/department’s

work; sets challenging goals and focuses effort on the goals and in meeting

or exceeding them

Continuing dialogue with the private sector

It has been observed there are different levels of understanding of NRPS, NRPS principles and other

BSP directives amongst the key stakeholders (both at the CEO level and at the working group level).

Most have little understanding or even wrong understanding of the principles and the expectations.

This is manifested by the nature of the questions, clarifications and issues raised either directly to the

BSP or through the PSMB Project Management Office (PMO). Some questions raised include the

rationale of NRPS and the need to change the current structures and organizations that are currently

in place (i.e. BancNet and Philippine Clearing House Corporation).

At the CEO level, this can be attributed to the fact that the BSP limited its dialogues, instructions and

negotiations with the PSMB PMO Head and the BAP President. However, it seems that within the

PSMB Interim Board, the communication of the rationale and principles requires further elaboration

as the issues raised are similar to the ones raised and already addressed by BSP several months ago.

The nature of comments and concerns seem to indicate a lack of understanding of basic payments and

payment systems concepts. It should be noted that although payments workshops for key industry

players were conducted in 2013 and 2014 as part of the USAID Scaling Innovations in Mobile Money

(SIMM) Project, there have been no payments workshops conducted for the CEOs then nor on the

introduction of the NRPS. Very few of the previous workshop participants are involved in ongoing

efforts for priority ACHs.

It has also been observed there is a need to change current practices, especially commercial models

and business arrangements. Specific examples include:

Compliance with Circular No. 928, specifically provision on fees on domestic remittance

transactions which states “§ X263.2 Fees on domestic remittance transactions. In case of domestic

remittance transactions, all fees to the transaction are charged upfront from the sender/remitter’s end,

with appropriate disclosure to the sender/ remitter of the components of the fees being charged. This does

not preclude the bank and/or other participants to the domestic remittance transaction from charging

service fees.” In discussions with BSP, it had been observed that banks continue to charge fees to

the beneficiary despite clarifications made by BSP on the circular.

In the drafting of the ACH agreements, one of the issues raised was on the application of the

NRPS principle that pricing and setting of fees are within the competitive domain of the NRPS,

not the cooperative domain, thus commercial arrangements must be between financial institutions


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and not at the ACH Participant Group. The industry preferred that the fee is set within the ACH

Participant Group and stated in the agreement.

Insufficient regulatory guidance

Some of the CEOs have raised concerns on the lack of regulatory certainty on the authority and

mandate of the PPMI due to the lack of a Payment Systems Act or a formal circular to guide the

payments industry. Despite BSP’s assurance that a circular on the authority and mandate of the PPMI

is forthcoming after the PPMI has been incorporated, some believe that the regulatory guidance should

be a prerequisite to the incorporation of the PPMI.

As discussed earlier, it was observed there are current definitions and policies, specifically covering

anti-money laundering, remittances and service fees, that may inhibit large-scale EFT adoption. There

were several consultation sessions with industry representatives on the implications of current policies

to clearing rules. Although some issues have been addressed, there remains items for further

discussions as well as reviews the NRPS team needs to conduct with other involved BSP groups (Anti-

Money Laundering Specialist Group, Financial Consumer Protection Department, Integrated

Supervision Department I, and the Office of the General Counsel and Legal Services) to redefine key

terms and align NRPS strategic objectives with other current BSP strategic objectives and policies.

On government disbursements, current BSP discussion partners at the DBM and DOF expressed

concerns over the principle that the sender or payer must shoulder the cost for the e-payment. Such

principle is in conflict with the current disbursement practice that any related costs are passed on to

the beneficiary. This issue has to be addressed through regulations clarifying such rules.

Component 4: E-Payment ecosystem developed in key cities identified under USAID’s

CDI

Most taxpayers opt to pay their real property taxes and business taxes annually, thus the bulk of P2G

payments were completed during the first Quarter. The possibility that the e-payment instruments

activated will remain unused until the next payment cycle highlights the need to get the broader

payment ecosystem (i.e., the private sector and businesses, utility companies, etc.) onboard. Utility

bills payments should be prioritized because of frequency and regularity (most of which are paid

monthly) and high volume. However, most electric and water utilities have apprehensions that

implementing e-payments involves substantial costs and significant infrastructure/organizational

changes. To give them available options that are most suited for their organization, E-PESO can

organize regular business/e-payments forums and roundtables. On promoting awareness and encouraging adoption, E-PESO should work with partner e-payment

service providers on a continuing promotional campaign linked to their products. This ensures that

promotion will be sustained and carried out in a massive scale, given that private companies have

allocated budgets for marketing.

2.4 PMP Update

With funding cuts, E-PESO will not be able to conduct interventions with some private sector partners

and product development by many financial institutions may be delayed. With reduced funding, E-

PESO cannot:

1. Fully staff and undertake necessary trips;

2. Hire most consultants;

3. Provide the same level of commodity support to partners; and,

4. Sponsor study visits to hasten policy reforms.


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This has a domino effect on LOP targets. For example, Indicator 1.3 is reduced to 300 due to significant

reduction in budget affecting support activities to address the indicator. These activities require a level

of scale that are cost intensive due to manpower and material support, thus translating to:

1. Significantly reduced trips outside of Metro Manila;

2. Removal of marketing support budget for partners, limiting interventions to technical

assistance; and,

3. Hiring freeze of additional regional personnel as area coordinators.

Despite this cut, E-PESO utilized some savings from the previous quarters to initiate a Philippine

Institutional Baseline Payments Study in partnership with the BSP to identify policy and market gaps

for e-payments adoption among merchants and businesses. Understanding these gaps will allow BSP

and supervised financial institutions to craft e-payment products and services for institutions to use at

a large scale. As part of that initiative, the BSP and E-PESO successfully conducted a Survey Design

Workshop among banks and non-bank electronic money issuers (EMIs) last June 9 to gather industry

feedback for questions and issues about the proposed Institutional Payments Baseline Study. The

workshop opened with welcome remarks from Mr. Raymond Estioko, BSP Deputy Director and NRPS

Team Head, followed by preliminary group exercises and house rules from Prof. Catherine Tantoco,

E-PESO Market Research Consultant and AIM professor. The main activities of the workshop include

an overview of the individual payments baseline study by E-PESO, group exercises that involve looking

at pain points of merchants and businesses, and finally an introduction to the institutional payments

baseline study to be implemented.

Photos: Banks and non-bank electronic money issuers discuss, argue, and present their insights during the Survey

Design Workshop at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) complex on June 9, 2017.


36

Key insights derived from the exercise include the following:

1. Banks do not see certain market segments (such as schools) as significant customers due to

their smaller number compared to small and large enterprises. However, as a result of the

exercise, they see these types of market segments as significant enablers for electronic

payments (e-payments).

2. There remains a large knowledge gap among particpants on how to best approach both

individual and institutional clients for e-payment products and services. This is best shown

during the last exercise where they were asked to identify questions to be included in the

institutional survey.

3. Micro and small merchants are seen to be averse to go into e-payments as a result of their

perceived tax liabilities to the government, fearing that transactions shall be monitored

electronically. This is one stumbling block towards e-payments adoption.

As a result of the exercise, the survey design will include many suggested questions for review before

the survey’s scope of work is finalized.

3. INTEGRATION OF CROSSCUTTING ISSUES AND

USAID FORWARD PRIORITIES

3.1 Gender Equality, Female Empowerment, and Disability Action

To promote cross-cutting issues, E-PESO has consistently integrated women’s inclusion in formal

financial systems. Past and on-going trainings track participation by women which now has reached

72% cumulatively among total number of participants. E-PESO also sees e-payments as a critical

factor in empowering women to have control over their financial lives through tools for financial

management such as debit cards and mobile phones, which are typically left at the care of women in

Philippine households. Lastly, the institutional baseline survey includes identifying women decision-

makers in businesses to gain insight on their e-payment behavior and identify a market for women-

led enterprises.

3.2 Policy and Governance Support

Support for Philippine national government agencies

E-PESO activities in the payments industry have been challenging due to behavioral biases and

inefficient market practices built in the Philippines through the decades. However, E-PESO’s work on

helping the Philippine government shift its payments streams to e-payments has been boosted by more

supportive bureaucrats, faster project implementation, and quicker issuance of needed policy changes.

Support to the BSP

As discussed in Section 2.2, BSP previously identified the circulars consistent with the NRPS-related

policy directions approved by the Monetary Board last 09 March 2017 (MB Resolution No. 418). These

include:

Circular Status of Support to BSP Benefits / Impact

Electronic Banking (BSP

currently revising draft)

E-PESO provided technical

input and comments to the

initial draft of the circular

The passage of this circular will

enable interoperability of electronic

funds transfer. All BSP Supervised

Financial Institutions (BSFIs) with


37


electronic banking license will be

mandated to make their channels

available for electronic funds transfer

(EFT) with other financial institutions.

EFT will no longer be limited to on-us

transactions.

This circular will also direct BSFIs to

immediately credit the proceeds of an

EFT to the beneficiary upon

settlement of the funds in BSP. This

will replace current practice where

there are delays in the credit of EFT.

Settlement Guarantee

Management

Presentation, submission of

formal report (Proposal for

the Implementation of a

Settlement Guarantee

Account) and facilitation of

discussions

The Settlement Guarantee

Mechanism supports the NRPS Policy

Framework and vision to provide

certainty of settlement and thereby

provide transaction finality for

immediate and near real-time

electronically cleared payments.

The SGM will ensure that pre-cleared

retail payments are always settled

including during times of liquidity

shocks, the removal of a participant

out of the payment system, or their

failure.

Consumer Protection:

Payee/beneficiary

must receive the

amount in full

Transparency and

Disclosure of

Policies and Fees

Abolition of the

reception fee where

funds are

electronically

deposited directly

into a payee’s

account as the

receiving bank does

not have any

substantial costs to

justify the fees

Presentation, submission of

formal reports

(Recommendations for ACH

Formulation, Batch EFT ACH

and InstaPay; Approach for

the Costing Methodology and

Commentary on the ATM

Acquiring Fee; and Discussion

on Paper on Electronic Funds

Transfer and Remittances) and

facilitation of discussions

Pricing principles were recommended

as basis for policies that will guide the

financial institutions on how they

price their services that are

commercially viable but still protect

consumer interest. When

implemented, customers of financial

institutions will be encouraged to

send and receive electronic funds

transfers as it will be more

convenient and less expensive than

cash or check.

Recognition of the

PSMB

Inputs via email and during

meetings

Helps provide regulatory certainty

and guidance on the authority and

mandate to the PSMB and will

clearing participants to join the PSMB

that govern the cooperative domain

of the payment system.


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Alignment of regulations

and definitions

Submission of Discussion

Paper on Electronic Funds and

Remittances, facilitation of

discussions

Support consistency and alignment of

NRPS principles and policies with

other current BSP policies. The

alignment is expected to encourage

financial institutions to develop and

offer innovative and competitive

products that drive electronic

payments.

Circular Letters Provision of recommended

circular letters that need to be

issued

Provide formal regulatory guidance

on the implications of current policies

to electronic payments.

Despite the challenges, BSP is able to secure general banking industry support for the NRPS. E-PESO

also continues to assist the BSP in organizing public-private dialogues and help the BSP’s NRPS technical

working group tasked with developing the rationale, framework, and policies supporting e-payments

in the Philippines.

3.3 Public Private Partnerships (PPP)

Besides individual agencies of government and businesses, E-PESO is building an e-payments ecosystem

with private sector partners and LGUs to push for greater adoption of e-payments at the mass user

level and demonstrate models to be followed.

Ag-tech start-up Krops demonstrates app to USAID

To show how information technology can be applied in an agriculture marketplace, start-up Krops

walked USAID/Philippines and USAID E-PESO through the features and functions of its mobile

application at its office in Makati City on June 2. Afterwards, discussions centered on how USAID E-

PESO can support Krops integrate electronic payments from small and medium agricultural

enterprises to farmers, provision of microfinance services from microfinance institutions, and

promotion of the application to increase adoption. Rapidly gaining traction in the Philippines, the app

is available for download at Google Play with a 4.5 star rating out of 5 stars.


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Photo: USAID/Philippines and USAID E-PESO with executives of Krops and parent firm Calata Corporation.

Seen here, from left to right, USAID E-PESO Chief of Party Mert Tangonan, Krops Senior Developer Chie Malaki,

USAID/Philippines Program Management Specialist Teresita Espenilla, USAID/Philippines Mission Economist and

Acting Office Director Dr. Stephen Andoseh, Calata Corp. President Joseph Calata, USAID E-PESO E-Payments

Ecosystem Advisor George Parrilla, and USAID E-PESO E-Money Ecosystem Advisor Cheryl Balingit.

Photo: Screenshots of Krops in Google Play.


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4. STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION AND

INVOLVEMENT

BSP and rural bankers hold consultation on NRPS

BSP’s NRPS Core Team, led by Deputy Director and NRPS Project Head Mr. Raymond Estioko, met

with key rural bank presidents and senior executives of the Rural Bankers Association of the

Philippines (RBAP) last June 16, 2017 to dialogue on developments related to the National Retail

Payments System (NRPS).

The NRPS Core Team provided a review of the key concepts for the NRPS and discussed the Payment

System Management Body (PSMB) that will govern the system. They also elaborated on the priority

automated clearing houses (ACHs) that will clear transactions. Rounding off the consultation, the

NRPS team listened and addressed concerns of rural bankers and clarified on how rural banks can

participate in the NRPS and the formation of the ACHs. As a result, the dialogue helped the rural

banks understand the NRPS and qualifications to the PSMB as well as guide their decision to choose

an appropriate representative from the rural banks to the PSMB Board of Directors.

Photos: Rural bankers converse with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) NRPS Core Team on details of the NRPS.

BSP, Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) and Cooperative Federations hold

Consultation on NRPS

BSP’s NRPS Core Team, led by Deputy Director and NRPS Project Head Mr. Raymond Estioko, met

with representatives of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), NATCCO and MASS-

SPECC (cooperative federations) in April, May and June 2017 to formulate mutually acceptable

arrangements for NATCCO and MASS-SPECC as qualified direct clearing participants and become

members of the PSMB. Viable options were explored and agreed upon. Another meeting will be

scheduled in July to discuss the outcome of the evaluation conducted by NATCCO and MASS-SPECC

and identify next steps moving forward.


41

Setting-up of the PPMI and its Management Office

After March 31, 2017, the PSMB Project Management Office (PMO), directed by the interim PSMB

Board (composed of the Bankers Association of the Philippines’ Executive Committee) pursued the

development of the documentation required for incorporation of the PPMI with the following outputs

to date:

Draft Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws (reviewed by the BSP to be consistent with NRPS

principles);

Selection of incorporators (the members of the BAP Executive Committee from 2016 – 2017

and 2017 – 2018 acting as the interim PSMB Board of Directors until the PSMB has been

incorporated and a Board of Directors, consistent with NRPS principles, have been elected);

Determination of basis for joining PPMI and its annual dues; and

Decision on PSMB’s corporate name – Philippine Payments Management, Inc. (PPMI)

The PSMB PMO shall continue to function in the same way as BAP’s PMO, which is in charge of

planning and executing other BAP initiatives. Aside from incorporating the PPMI, the PMO is expected

to help operationalize the PPMI’s Management Office by detailing the functions and the organizational

structure, including the manpower and competencies required. The PMO will conduct the recruitment

of key positions of the PPMI’s Management Office. PSMB’s current executive and administrative

expenses are being shouldered by the BAP. The PSMB PMO has also started pursuing its own research

of ACHs in Singapore following some recommendations and referrals made by E-PESO.

5. MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES

For Quarter 3, E-PESO had several staff movements, namely:

Melissa Cook. The DCOP has completed her term in the Field Office on June 15, 2017 as planned. She returned to the US immediately upon completion.

Lynie Ramos. Her contract ended on May 31, 2017 and was no longer renewed. Most of her responsibilities as Office Manager, including providing support to expatriate employees, etc. are no longer required. Hence, the few that remained of her office management roles have been transferred to Theresa Contreras, the HR and Operations Coordinator.

Rachel Quintos. The Communications Specialist resigned effective May 31, 2017. E-PESO started the recruitment process and has identified the top three applicants. An offer is being prepared to hire the most qualified candidate.

Claudeline Cellan. The Research Associate resigned from E-PESO effective June 9, 2017. E-PESO will not be replacing this role until the budget allows.

George Parrilla. The Component 4 Lead has resigned last June 23, 2017 and will be with E-PESO until July 27, 2017 only. The recruitment process for his replacement has been initiated. Qualified candidates have submitted their application documents to E-PESO, which will finalize its selection soon.

Related to staffing, Ms. Kara Leffelman joined the E-PESO Project Management Unit (PMU) team at the home office as Manager on June 28, 2017. She replaced Ms. Alicia Wagner who left last May 25, 2017.

On office productivity, the E-PESO team migrated from Google to Microsoft’s Office 365 platform as part of Chemonics’ world-wide migration to cloud-based office productivity tools. With its tighter


42

product integration and richer group collaboration tools, Office 365 will help boost E-PESO team productivity even when working and communicating from different locations.

USAID/Philippines’ Ms. Carmen Panis conducted a commodity check last June 22, 2017. Aside from one missing Macbook laptop unit, all commodities were accounted for and there were no other major findings. Efforts were exerted to find the missing equipment and should efforts prove futile, E-PESO will report the loss to USAID/Philippines’ E-PESO Contract Officer by end of August 2017.

Lastly, travel to Mindanao has been suspended since May 23, 2017 when lawless elements laid siege on Marawi City and which resulted to the declaration of Martial Law on the same day. Travel and social media training for Cagayan de Oro City LGU employees scheduled on May 24, 2017 was thus cancelled. Travel suspension to Mindanao for E-PESO staff will only be lifted as soon as the situation stabilizes with proper advisories from security authorities of the Philippine government, USAID or the US Embassy.

6. LESSONS LEARNED

Component 1 and 2: Rapid Adoption of e-Payments in Financial System, Infrastructure

for E-payments Expanded

Government agencies that remit collections to the government Treasury Single Account (TSA) are

encountering difficulties in adopting electronic payments through credit and debit cards. This difficulty

stems from the Bureau of Treasury’s mandate that all collections made by participating government

agencies must be remitted to the TSA a day after transaction date (T+1). However, credit and debit

card transactions, due to the card network’s clearing process, can only be pooled at the acquiring

bank settlement account a day after (T+1) and then sent to the TSA after another day (T+2). Some

government agencies such as the BIR are considering implementing a workaround by defining the

transaction date as the day the funds were pooled at the settlement account, which will enable them

to meet BTr’s deadline. This workaround, however, may not be applicable to government agencies

that issue official receipts as transaction dates have to be the same as the date of the official receipt.

Therefore it critical for stakeholders to align policies and processes to satisfy the current turnaround

time requirements.


Competency Development

Since the beginning of the project, E-PESO’s assistance to the BSP focused more on developing their

technical knowledge and building BSP’s internal manpower expertise on payments and payment

systems. It was not taken into consideration that leadership and management competencies of the

team, particularly in strategy formulation, project management and communications are crucial in

introducing and pushing significant changes in the payments industry and even internally within the

BSP. As a result, more technical assistance to address the limitations of the internal team should be

provided to include possible competency development trainings or workshops and provision for the

required manpower, that allow them to fully address challenges encountered.

Payments / Payment Systems Knowledge Building

As mentioned in Section 2.3, it was observed that providing fundamental knowledge of payments and

payment systems are necessary (both for the clearing participants as well as internally within BSP) to


43

ensure common understanding and basis among the stakeholders. Priority seminars should be for

CEOs, who are the decision makers and signatories of the various agreements, and the members of

the ACH working groups, who are working on the initial agreements.

Concerns and clarifications raised by industry partners have mostly been based on erroneous

understanding of payment concepts and underlying rationale for the NRPS framework. If there are

more payment experts in the BSP, more resources can be deployed to conduct dialogues and / or

workshops to address these questions and clarifications.

Effective Communication

BSP is more comfortable addressing issues and clarifications via formal written communications

between BSP and industry participants. Dialogues conducted with selected industry participants and

several BSP departments to address specific issues and clarifications on the implications of anti-money

laundering regulations and the security guarantee mechanism were well received by participants. It

highlighted examples for healthy dialogue and discussion.

The participating financial institutions understood BSP’s rationale, basis and considerations for its

policies. They also gained insight from the other institutions’ concerns. BSP on the other hand better

appreciated the context of the clarifications on specific practical application to financial products. The

dialogues resulted to strong, positive feedback from financial institutions and was deemed beneficial.

Requests were subsequently made that similar dialogues be conducted in the future, especially prior

to finalizing regulations.

Incentives and Consequences to Action / Inaction

BSP’s approach in dealing with its supervised institutions have traditionally been consultative unlike

some of its counterparts in other jurisdictions. Initiatives such as the PSMB formation and ACH

agreement formulation are highly dependent on the payment industry’s actions. However, there are

no consequences for inaction or delays and there is no incentive to expedite completion of NRPS

initiatives.

Leverage partnership with BSP to address gaps

Despite delays in the progress of the BSP’s priority initiatives for NRPS, BSP has gained a lot of mileage

among financial institutions and other government agencies on the NRPS. In this regard, it would

benefit both BSP and E-PESO to leverage the existing partnership by moving forward together with

other government agencies to address policy gaps or drive transaction volumes for e-payments.


CDI

During the Quarter, E-PESO had engagements with two market segments – farmers and micro-

entrepreneurs - that are viewed as having low digital literacy owing to their limited access to Internet

connectivity and hardware (smartphones, laptops, tablets). Further, these groups also have the lowest

level of formal bank account ownership. The focus group discussion (FGD) with farmers and e-

commerce workshop for microentrepreneurs confirmed the low level of digital literacy of both

groups. Only 3 of the 10 farmers own mobile phones; two of these are feature phones and only one

is a smartphone. Of the ten microentreprenuers that participated in the workshop, only three are

adept in using the computer and navigating the Internet, four use the Internet only to access social

media but are new to e-mail, and two have beginner-level proficiency. Transitioning the two groups

from their traditional selling modes to using e-commerce/agriculture platforms requires a phased

approach. For microentrepreneurs, teaching the basics of Internet navigation, using e-mail, and signing

up on entry-level e-commerce sites e.g OLX will give ease and familiarity and prepare them for setting


44

up stores in e-commerce marketplaces. For farmers, demonstration, simulation, and practice should

complement orientation and briefing during onboarding.

E-PESO conducts focus group discussions with Pulilan farmers and students

Last May 29, USAID E-PESO conducted Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with ten farmers and nine

students from Barangay Dulong Malabon, Pulilan, that aims to determine their spending habits, get a

snapshot of the local payments/disbursement ecosystem, gain local context of money inflow and

outflow, and gauge their perception on electronic payments. The FGD is one of the key information-

gathering activities outlined by the Pulilan e-payments technical working group (TWG) and USAID E-

PESO to prepare for the introduction of electronic payment/disbursement services in the municipality.

The participants were asked to:

• Identify sources of income (inflow) for the family/household/individual;

• Identify expenses (outflow) of the family/household/individual;

• Identify the items that are received/spent for most frequently;

• Identify transactions that they consider the most inconvenient/risky/takes the longest to

pay or collect; and,

• Identify which ones would be the best to pay electronically (debit/credit/online/mobile

money).

For the farmers group, income from selling palay and vegetables was the top income source, followed

by pension (from both Government Service Insurance System – GSIS – and the Social Security System

– SSS), and honorarium from serving as barangay kagawad. One participant said that he earns extra

income from leasing his land to Globe Telecom. They spend most frequently for basic needs (food and

groceries), farm inputs, maintenance medicines, expenses for socializing (pakikisama) and utilities.

Pensions are the most inconvenient to access with proceeds disbursed via UnionBank ATM cards.

They spend PHP60 one way to go to Malolos to withdraw without charge or PHP60 round trip plus

PHP25 service charge if they withdraw from Pulilan ATMs. Meralco bills are the most difficult to pay.

Bills can be paid via Bayad Center (if not overdue) or at Meralco Malolos Branch. During peak days

(Mondays or payday), waiting in line can sometimes take 2 hours. If bills can be paid in a bills payment

center within the barangay, residents can save PHP792 pesos a year (transportation cost to town

center).

Only 3 of the 10 farmers have mobile phones. However, the other 7 said that at least one member of

the household owns a mobile phone. E-PESO described and demonstrated how bills can be paid via

mobile phones using GCASH and described the mobile app Krops. The farmers were receptive but

said that they need to be thoroughly trained on how to use mobile services, if ever these are

introduced. They suggested that family members who are adept at technology/tech savvy should attend

the training with them so they can learn together and they have an on-hand resource.


45

Photo: Farmers go through discussions on e-payments.

Photo: Pulilan students write their comments on meta-cards.

Students identified their parents’ salaries as the main source of household income, and their allowance

and scholarship benefits as the top money/income inflow. Top expenses are basic needs, utility bills,

transportation, and allowance/baon. Salaries (of parents) are all already disbursed via ATM. Scholars

of the provincial government get their checks from the provincial capitol and have it encashed in

LandBank before paying to Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Remittance is cashed out at

pawnshops (Cebuana Lhuillier, Palawan Pawnshop). For personal expenses, students spend most for

transportation, food, and airtime load. Students top-up airtime load at sari-sari stores or convenience

stores; 2 students load daily while the rest load weekly and avail of “unli” promos. Like the farmers,

the students said paying utility bills is very inconvenient and costly. Paying for their tuition is also


46

inconvenient. One participant shared that paying for tuition fees in Bulacan State University (BSU),

which has an estimated population of 40,000, sometimes takes half a day.

From the discussions, deploying bills payment centers or mobile money cash-in/cash-out outlets in

barangays far from the municipality center, like Daang Malabon, can potentially address the

inconvenience and costs associated with paying bills. Giving students electronic (online or mobile)

payment options for paying tuition fees can address the long lines and waiting time for schools with

large student populations.

E-PESO is now looking at how Tech4Ed Centers can be activated and accredited as bills payment or

cash-in/out centers. Tech4ED Centers, a project of the Department of Science and Technology, is a

self-sustaining, shared facility providing access to ICT-enabled services and relevant content. It serves

as a conduit for efficient delivery of government and other services and a potent tool for the

empowerment and participation of unserved and underserved communities.

Valenzuela City e-Payments Social Media Campaign

On March 29, on the day the ad campaign was scheduled to end, Valenzuela City's social media point

person received notification that the Facebook ad promoting online credit card payments (Visa-

branded cards) for real property tax payments was discontinued because it did not conform to

Facebook ad standards. When the ad was submitted 24 March, the caption went through two edits to

shorten the text. After two tries, Facebook sent notification that the ad was up to standards and was

assumed to be running. The administrator made edits and tried to re-submit but got no further

notifications.


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Figure 1: Facebook ad promoting online RPT payments


48

Table 1: Metrics for Facebook Engagement

Indicator Total (March 24, 2017)

Page likes

Total number of people who have liked, commented or shared the page (unique

users) during the social media campaign (SMC) duration

1

Post Shares

Total number of post shares during the social media campaign (SMC) duration

155

Engaged users

Average number of people who engaged with the page (unique users) during the social

media campaign (SMC) duration

12,781

Total reach

Average number of people who have seen any content associated with the page

(unique users) during the social media campaign (SMC) duration

31,164

Video Views (Impressions) 11,307

Photo Clicks 2

Comments 53

Click Through Rate (Number of Link Clicks and dividing it by Impressions) 5.85%

Cost Per Click (Link): the average cost of each click from your ad over to

your website. Calculated by taking the Amount Spent divided by the

number of Link Clicks.

PHP1.41

During the eight (8) hours the ad run (8:00 PM of March 24, 2017 to 4:00 AM of March 25, 2017)

and the PHP937.97 total amount spent, the cost of the ad per view was PHP.08 (less than 10

centavos) and the cost per click for the link was PHP1.41.

The ad scored 8 in the relevance score scale (with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest).

Relevance score is based on the positive and negative feedback an ad receives from its target

audience. The more positive interactions an ad is expected to receive, the higher the ad’s relevance


49

score will be. (Positive indicators vary depending on the ad’s objective, but may include video views,

conversions, etc.) The more times an ad is expected to be hidden or reported, the lower its score

will be.

Table 2: Registration and payment indicators

Indicator Total (March 24-31)

Number of link clicks (Landing page on Valenzuela website indicated on the Facebook post) 662

Number of new registrations (Valenzuela Online services) 0

Number of online payments (March 24-31) 4

The figures below show the audience reached, by demographic group:

Figure 2: Audience Reach: By gender and age group


50

Insights and Next Steps

1. Improve messaging and copy of advertisement to avoid under-delivery of ad: The

original caption/copy of the ad was too long and wordy and underwent two revisions before it

was approved for posting by Facebook. Despite the notification that the ad was approved and

that it would run for the entire period specified (March 24-29); the ad only ran for 8 hours. To

optimize the performance and reach of ads for future campaigns, the copy should be carefully

crafted to convey the key message concisely.

2. Landing page of ad should be directed to an overview/instructions page, rather than

straight to the registration page. By providing an overview and guide on the requirements

for using the service steps for completing a transaction, users will be equipped with the

necessary information before being directed to the registration page.

3. Optimize budget and location range to include users residing in areas outside

Valenzuela City.

7. PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR NEXT QUARTER

INCLUDING UPCOMING EVENTS

For the next quarter, E-PESO will prioritize improving the enabling environment for e-payments

(Component 3), supporting the adoption and growth of e-payments in the existing set of CDIs and

other USAID partner LGUs (Component 4), and driving e-payment usage by national government

agencies with large payment streams (Component 1).

Component 1 and 2: Rapid Adoption of e-Payments in Financial System, Infrastructure

for E-payments Expanded

Work with Philhealth and HDMF (or Pag-Ibig Fund) is ongoing and the MOUs are currently being

finalized. Together with LBP and service provider PayMaya, E-PESO continues to support the adoption

of an additional payment channel for the BIR. E-PESO is also developing with the DoTr a study to

assess, perform gap analysis, and recommend a roadmap for the AFCS in the planned Public Utility

Vehicle Modernization Program that is aligned with the ISO 24014 international standard on

Interoperable Fare Management. E-PESO is also set to launch the Land Bank of the Philippines’

electronic payment portal for the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), allowing NMIS clients to

pay their dues online.

Additionally, E-PESO will continue driving e-payment adoption and usage in the market through these

approaches: (1) supporting national government agencies with large payment streams to switch

disbursements to e-payment instruments and/or to expand e-payment collection options; (2) assisting

business solutions providers (e.g. computerized accounting systems, payroll systems, school

information systems, etc.) to integrate e-payments into their products for use by businesses.


Taking into consideration implementation challenges, lessons learned and BSP’s priorities, the

following are planned for the next quarter:

Activity Description

Work Planning session with

NRPS Core Team

A series of work planning sessions with the NRPS Core Team

shall be organized to revisit the NRPS strategy and roadmap,


51

formulate a detailed workplan for the rest of 2017, organize

resources and identify strategic joint initiatives between BSP and

E-PESO in achieving shared objectives.

More active role in project

management

E-PESO will take a more active role in project management –

from formulating the project plan and monitoring progress to

ensure that activities are on track vis-à-vis the plan to be

formulated in the work planning session.

Set-up and organize PPMI Outstanding issues currently delaying the set-up and organization

of the PPMI will be addressed soon. Therefore, assistance

through the BSP will be provided to help PPMI operationalize

and perform its functions in accordance with BSP expectations.

Operationalize PESO Net (tap

pilot users and financial

institutions to showcase

benefits)

As instructed by the BSP Governor to the NRPS Project Team, a

concrete output of the NRPS shall be seen by November 2017.

It was agreed that efforts will focus on the operationalization of

PESO Net by November. This will include the formulation of the

necessary regulations to support EFT. Other E-PESO

components will also be tapped to identify and work with pilot

users and financial institutions to showcase the uses and benefits

of PESO Net.

Digital Security The conduct of the digital security policy review will start by

next quarter.

Since the signing of the PSMB Charter and Expression of Intent, E-PESO will support the BSP in guiding

the payments industry to organize the governance structures and operating processes of the ACHs

intended to self-regulate clearing operations according to the NRPS framework and promote

consumer protection. BSP and E-PESO shall also assist the PSMB PMO in setting up its organization

and secretariat support to the ACHs as well as follow-through on BSP dialogues with government

agencies to encourage electronic disbursements and collections.


CDI

E-PESO will continue the work of building e-payment ecosystems in CDIs, other USAID partner cities

(specifically Batangas, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Puerto Princesa, Zamboanga, Tagbilaran, Quezon City,

Valenzuela and Pulilan), and other cities and municipalities through partnerships with the state-owned

banks DBP and LBP, as well as LGU IT systems providers such as DICT and Rameses. E-PESO is

buiding the capacity of its partners in optimizing the offering and implementation of e-payments

disbursements and/or collections to LGUs by leveraging the knowledge products and tools developed

by E-PESO from direct interventions with 9 CDIs and other USAID partner cities.

In addition, E-PESO will also conduct a study with DBP in quantifying the benefit-cost analysis of banks

and EMIs delivering financial education using face-to-face and digital media methods. The result of the

study will guide the industry on whether it would be profitable and sustainable for financial institutions

to address the financial education gap of consumers.

These approaches will be led by the E-PESO technical team experienced with payment technology,

business development, operations management, change management, and training and research. E-

PESO anticipates an average of two regional trips per month in addition to limited remote consumer

financial education and promotion support. E-PESO will also continue to work with partner LGUs to

increase usage of their existing e-payment solutions and integrate additional payment channels, in

particular online and mobile payments, to provide additional alternatives for their constituents in

paying local government taxes, permits and other fees.


52

Lastly, with support from key partners, E-PESO will continue to build awareness and advocate for e-

payments to the broader public through the ePay Pilipinas web portal and associate social media

channels. The Activity will provide information products and conduct knowledge sharing activities that

convey best practices and improve the capability of organizations and individuals to adopt e-payments.

The activities proposed for the quarter reflect USAID’s guidance that E-PESO’s funding levels will be

lower than originally anticipated.

32

ANNEX 1: Press Coverage and Mentions

BSP signs measures to expand e-commerce in the Philippines

GMA News Online | April 12, 2017

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/606807/money/economy/bsp-signs-measures-to-expand-e-

commerce-in-the-philippines

ANNEX 2: Summary of Results to Date by Key Indicator

Indicator DI 4: More predictable and reliable financial tools for the poor

Number of financial tools developed for the poor

Year 1 Quarter 4 (July – Sept 30, 2016)

- DSWD financial literacy tool and distribution of ATM/debit cards

Indicator 1.1: Adoption of e-payment services as monetary transaction (collection/

disbursement) option in five (5) national GPH agencies

Year 1 Quarter 4 (July 1 – Sept. 30, 2015)

- Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

Year 2 Quarter 3 (Apr. 1 – June 30, 2016)

- Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)

Indicator 1.2: Adoption of m-Money and e-payments in all cities of PFG CDI and other

cities/municipalities

No. of CDIs (and other cities/municipalities) that introduced or enhanced m-Money and e-payment

options


- Cagayan de Oro City

- Pulilan, Bulacan

- Zamboanga City

Year 2 Quarter 2 (Jan. 1 – Mar. 31, 2016)

- Batangas City

- Quezon City


- Valenzuela City

Indicator 1.3: Increased e-payment implementation and adoption to 500 (small, medium,

and large) businesses

Number of businesses introducing or enhancing e-payment options as a result of E-PESO support

Year 2 Quarter 1 (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2015)

- Cagayan de Oro Electric Power & Light Company (CEPALCO)

- Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD)

- Zamboanga City Water District (ZCWD)

- Palawan Electric Cooperative (PALECO)

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/606807/money/economy/bsp-signs-measures-to-expand-e-commerce-in-the-philippines


USAID / E-PESO 9th Quarterly (Y3 Q3) Report


- University of the Visayas (UV)

Indicator 1.4: Over 25,000 people trained (via financial education and literacy) on the uses

of e-payments and m-Money services for improved household financial management

Number of people trained (via financial education and literacy) on the uses of e-payments


- DSWD – MCCT Davao del Norte (3 females)

- NCR – MCCT Training QC, 7/24/15 (13 females, 1 male)

- NCR – MCCT Training Manila, 8/8/15 (185 females, 18 males)

- E-payments Technology & Innovations for Business, Puerto Princesa City and local chambers of

commerce, 9/29 – 9/30 (31 females, 21 males)


- FICCO Training, 3/19/16 to 3/20/16 (2,455 of males, 6,421 females; 8,876 trained)

Year 3 Quarter 2 (Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2017)

- FICCO Training, 2/2/17 and 2/3/17 (68 of males, 3 of females, 71 trained)

- Orientation on RPT Payments – QC Mezza Residents, 3/18/17 (42 males, 41 females, 83 trained)

Year 3 Quarter 3 (April 1 – June 30, 2017)

- Zamboanga City LGU Financial Literacy Orientation, 4/26/17 and 4/27/17 (68 males, 64 females,

132 trained)

- Tagbilaran City e-Payments Forum, 6/6/17 (24 males, 21 females, 45 trained)

- Tagbilaran City Social Media Marketing, eCommerce, and ePayments Workshop, 6/6/17 to

6/7/17 (10 males, 12 females, 22 trained)

Indicator 2.1: Growth of front-end e-payment infrastructure expanded

No. of institutions supported by E-PESO to improve and/or expand their front-end infrastructure



- Puerto Princesa City

- Pulilan (Bulacan)

- Zamboanga City

- Cagayan de Oro Electric Power and Light Company (CEPALCO)



- Puerto Princesa Water District (PPWD)


- Auto Top-Up Ventures Inc. (ATVI)


- Batangas City

- Quezon City

Year 2, Quarter 3 (Apr. 1 – June 30, 2016)

- OmniPay

- Mynt



- Valenzuela City

- BIR

- Mindanao University of Science & Technology (MUST)



- PayMaya


- Tagbilaran City

- Iloilo City

Indicator 2.2: Back-end e-payment infrastructure strengthened

No. of institutions supported by E-PESO to improve and/or expand their back-end infrastructure




- Pulilan (Bulacan)

- Zamboanga City

- Cagayan de Oro Electric Power and Light Company (CEPALCO)



- Puerto Princesa Water District (PPWD)


- Auto Top-Up Ventures Inc. (ATVI)


- Batangas City

- Quezon City


- BIR

- Mindanao University of Science & Technology (MUST)


Indicator 2.3. E-payment infrastructure gaps identified

Number of gap analysis reports at industry or ecosystem level

Year 2 Quarter 3 (Apr 1 – June 30, 2016)

- E-payments Landscape

Year 2 Quarter 4 (July 1 – Sept 30, 2016)

- Philippine Individual Payments Baseline Survey

- Philippine Agent Network Study

Indicator 3.1: Financial regulation refined to manage growth of e-payments

a. No. of circulars, regulations, and/or local ordinances refined or clarified to support e-payment growth


- Zamboanga City Council Resolution No. 1067 issued last Sept. 15, 2015


- Puerto Princesa Executive Order 15 Series 2015 issued last Sept. 21, 2015


- 2016 National Expenditure Program, Section 76 (supports adoption and compliance to e-

payments in all government transactions)

- Puerto Princesa City Council Ordinance passed last Dec. 2015


- BIR Regulation 3-2016 issued last Mar. 23, 2016


- Joint Memorandum Circular 01-2016 issued last Aug. 30, 2016

- Tagbilaran City Executive Order 23 Series of 2016 issued last Sept. 21, 2016

Year 3, Quarter 1 (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2016)

- Tagbilaran City Ordinance No. 21-16 issued Nov. 3, 2016

b. No. of public-private dialogues to support strengthening e-payment environment


- NATCCO General Assembly (May 23-24, 2015)


- Launch of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (July 1, 2015)

- Dialogue of Queen Maxima and Philippine banking industry and other players (July 2015)

- DILG Regional ICT Forum – Mindanao (Sept. 3, 2015)

- DILG Regional ICT Forum – Luzon (Sept. 16, 2015)

- DILG Regional ICT Forum – Visayas (Sept. 22, 2015)

- Chief Information Officers Foundation Forum (Sept. 30, 2015)


- Philippine Agent Network Study Launch (Oct. 26, 2015)

- Remittance for Development Council Meeting (Nov. 6, 2015)

- NEA-Electric Cooperatives Consultation Session (Nov. 26, 2015)

- Launch of the NRPS (Dec. 9, 2015)

- BSP-CEOs Conference Meetings (Dec. 2015)


- SURGE Stakeholder's Forum - Batangas City (Jan. 19, 2016)

- SURGE Stakeholder’s Forum - Tagbilaran City (Jan. 26-27, 2016)

Year 2, Quarter 3 (Apr. 1 – June30, 2016)

- Innovative Strategies for Development Summit 2016 (June 8-10)

- CDO MSME Business Forum, Cagayan de Oro City (June 10-11)

- Impact of M-Money in the Bottom of the Pyramid Summit (June 17)

Year 3, Quarter 1 (Oct. 1 – Dec.31, 2016)

- Digital Congress: “The Power of X” organized by IMMAP (Oct. 12, 2016)

- Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Forum organized by DILG (Oct. 27, 2016)


Year 3, Quarter 2 (Jan. 1 – Mar. 31, 2017)

- BSP-Banking Industry Workshop on NRPS (Feb. 3, 2017)

- Future of Commerce: Philippines Meetup (Feb. 23, 2017)

Year 3, Quarter 3 (April 1 – June 30, 2017)

- Various NRPS Consultations with PSMB, BAP, RBAP, CDA, NATCCO, etc. (May and June 2017)

- Survey Design Workshop for ePayments (June 9, 2017)

Indicator 3.5: Security measures in e-payments strengthened

No. of guidelines developed and forums held that promote awareness on digital security best practices

or consumer protection


- FICCO Training, 3/19/16 to 3/20/16 (2,455 of males, 6,421 females; 8,876 trained)


- Orientation on RPT Payments – QC Mezza Residents, 3/18/17 (42 males, 41 females, 83 trained)


- Zamboanga City LGU Financial Literacy Orientation, 4/26/17 and 4/27/17 (68 males, 64 females,

132 trained)

Indicator 3.6: Global knowledge-sharing on e-payments promoted

a. No. of articles promoting e-payments

Year 1 (Mar. 18 – Sept. 30, 2016)

Philippines pushing for cashless society, but it’s a long way off

Apr. 25, 2015 | techinasia.com

https://www.techinasia.com/philippines-cashless-

society/?utm_source=search&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=%2Fphilippines-cashless-

society%2F

MVP pushes digital payments to fast-track financial inclusion in Philippines

July 27, 2015 | The Philippine Star (philstar.com)

http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/07/27/1481268/mvp-pushes-digital-payments-fast-track-

financial-inclusion-philippines

USAID, LGU to launch E-PESO activity

Aug. 3, 2015 | Daily Zamboanga Times

http://zamboangatimes.ph/top-news/15657-usaid-lgu-to-launch-e-peso-activity-.html

Smart cites digital payment’s relevance

Aug. 11, 2015 | The Daily Tribune

http://www.tribune.net.ph/business/smart-cites-digital-payment-s-relevance

Prepaid cards for cash transfer distributed to street families, indigenous people, etc.

Aug. 12, 2015 | philnews.com

http://philnews.com/headlines/2015/headline_news_0813ag.htm

https://www.techinasia.com/philippines-cashless-society/?utm_source=search&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=%2Fphilippines-cashless-society%2F



http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/07/27/1481268/mvp-pushes-digital-payments-fast-track-financial-inclusion-philippines

http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/07/27/1481268/mvp-pushes-digital-payments-fast-track-financial-inclusion-philippines

http://zamboangatimes.ph/top-news/15657-usaid-lgu-to-launch-e-peso-activity-.html

http://www.tribune.net.ph/business/smart-cites-digital-payment-s-relevance

http://philnews.com/headlines/2015/headline_news_0813ag.htm


More convenient: Prepaid cards distributed to CCT beneficiaries

Aug. 13, 2015 | moveon.ph

http://www.moveon.ph/more-convenient-prepaid-cards-distributed-to-cct-beneficiaries/

Beng, USAID launch e-PESO system in ZC

Aug. 28, 2015 | Daily Zamboanga Times

http://zamboangatimes.ph/top-news/15930-beng-usaid-launch-e-peso-system-in-zc.html

Zambo, USAID launch E-PESO program

Aug. 28, 2015 | Zimnet New

http://www.zimnet.com/archives/1195-Zambo,-USAID-launch-E-Peso-program.html

Zamboanga Mayor Beng Climaco lauded for dynamic leadership

Aug. 28, 2015 | Mindanao Examiner

http://mindanaoexaminer.com/zamboanga-mayor-beng-climaco-lauded-for-dynamic-leadership/

Program to help PH achieve 20-fold increase in e-payments

Aug. 31, 2015 | Mindanao Times

http://mindanaotimes.net/program-to-help-ph-achieve-20-fold-increase-in-e-payments/

USAID cites Zambo’s role as engine of growth

Sept. 1, 2015 | Zamboanga Today Online

http://www.zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/top-stories/20938-usaid-cites-zambos-role-as-engine-of-

growth-.html

USAID launches E-PESO project in Zambo

Sept. 2, 2015 | pia.gov.ph (Philippine News Agency)

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/2831441184029/usaid-launches-e-peso-project-in-zambo

‘E-PESO Activity” in Zamboanga

Sept. 22, 2015 | The Manila Times Online

http://www.manilatimes.net/e-peso-activity-in-zamboanga/220104/

ULAP co-organizes conduct of LGU ICT FORUM Mindanao Leg in Cagayan de Oro City

Sept. 2015 | ulap.net.ph

http://ulap.net.ph/index.php/en/program-updates/news-updates/379-ulap-co-organizes-conduct-of-

lgu-ict-forum-mindanao-leg-in-cagayan-de-oro-city-with-dilg-blgd-dost-icto-and-dti


Microsoft enters partnership to promote e-payment

Oct. 22, 2015

http://www.tribune.net.ph/business/microsoft-enters-partnership-to-promote-e-payment

USAID lauds PHL for improving e-payment infrastructure

BusinessMirror, Nov. 18, 2015

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/usaid-lauds-phl-for-improving-e-payment-infrastructure/

http://www.moveon.ph/more-convenient-prepaid-cards-distributed-to-cct-beneficiaries/

http://zamboangatimes.ph/top-news/15930-beng-usaid-launch-e-peso-system-in-zc.html

http://www.zimnet.com/archives/1195-Zambo,-USAID-launch-E-Peso-program.html

http://mindanaoexaminer.com/zamboanga-mayor-beng-climaco-lauded-for-dynamic-leadership/

http://mindanaotimes.net/program-to-help-ph-achieve-20-fold-increase-in-e-payments/

http://www.zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/top-stories/20938-usaid-cites-zambos-role-as-engine-of-growth-.html

http://www.zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/top-stories/20938-usaid-cites-zambos-role-as-engine-of-growth-.html

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/2831441184029/usaid-launches-e-peso-project-in-zambo

http://www.manilatimes.net/e-peso-activity-in-zamboanga/220104/

http://ulap.net.ph/index.php/en/program-updates/news-updates/379-ulap-co-organizes-conduct-of-lgu-ict-forum-mindanao-leg-in-cagayan-de-oro-city-with-dilg-blgd-dost-icto-and-dti

http://ulap.net.ph/index.php/en/program-updates/news-updates/379-ulap-co-organizes-conduct-of-lgu-ict-forum-mindanao-leg-in-cagayan-de-oro-city-with-dilg-blgd-dost-icto-and-dti

http://www.tribune.net.ph/business/microsoft-enters-partnership-to-promote-e-payment

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/usaid-lauds-phl-for-improving-e-payment-infrastructure/


City gears for e-Peso project take-off

Zamboanga Today Dec. 29, 2015

http://zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/top-stories/22054-city-gears-for-e-peso-project-take-off.html

Zamboanga City set to launch e-Pesos project

Sunstar Zamboanga Dec. 31, 2015

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2015/12/31/zamboanga-city-set-launch-e-pesos-

project-449526


USAID to hold two-day caravan for market vendors

Mindanao Daily News | Feb. 18, 2016

http://www.mindanaodailynews.com/usaid-to-hold-two-day-caravan-for-market-vendors/

USAID, CDO speed up market stall payment via e-Bayad Tour

pia.gov.ph | Feb. 23, 2016

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/2601456209389/usaid-cdo-speed-up-market-stall-payment-via-e-

bayad-tour-

M-money, other e-payment options featured at QC

e-Bayad Tour caravan

quezoncity.gov.ph | Mar. 2016

http://quezoncity.gov.ph/index.php/recent-news/1994-mobile-money-other-electronic-payment-

options-featured-at-qc-e-bayad-tour-caravan


QC, USAID conduct e-Bayad Tour Caravan

Philippine Information Agency | Apr. 7, 2016

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/231459994344/qc-usaid-conduct-e-bayad-tour-caravan-

BIR, GCash relaunch e-filing, payments tie-up

The Manila Times | Apr. 12, 2016

http://www.manilatimes.net/bir-gcash-relaunch-e-filing-payments-tie-up/255703/

BIR, Globe relaunch mobile income tax payment system

The Standard | Apr. 12, 2016

http://thestandard.com.ph/business/203492/bir-globe-relaunch-mobile-income-tax-payment-

system.html

BIR, Gcash relaunch first e-tax filing and payment system in PH

Manila Bulletin | Apr. 13, 2016

http://www.mb.com.ph/bir-gcash-relaunch-first-e-tax-filing-and-payment-system-in-ph/

BIR, GCash relaunch first e-tax filing, payment system

SunStar | Apr. 13, 2016

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/business/2016/04/13/bir-gcash-relaunch-first-e-tax-filing-payment-

system-467732

http://zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/top-stories/22054-city-gears-for-e-peso-project-take-off.html

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2015/12/31/zamboanga-city-set-launch-e-pesos-project-449526

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2015/12/31/zamboanga-city-set-launch-e-pesos-project-449526

http://www.mindanaodailynews.com/usaid-to-hold-two-day-caravan-for-market-vendors/

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/2601456209389/usaid-cdo-speed-up-market-stall-payment-via-e-bayad-tour-

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/2601456209389/usaid-cdo-speed-up-market-stall-payment-via-e-bayad-tour-

http://quezoncity.gov.ph/index.php/recent-news/1994-mobile-money-other-electronic-payment-options-featured-at-qc-e-bayad-tour-caravan

http://quezoncity.gov.ph/index.php/recent-news/1994-mobile-money-other-electronic-payment-options-featured-at-qc-e-bayad-tour-caravan

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/231459994344/qc-usaid-conduct-e-bayad-tour-caravan-

http://www.manilatimes.net/bir-gcash-relaunch-e-filing-payments-tie-up/255703/

http://thestandard.com.ph/business/203492/bir-globe-relaunch-mobile-income-tax-payment-system.html

http://thestandard.com.ph/business/203492/bir-globe-relaunch-mobile-income-tax-payment-system.html

http://www.mb.com.ph/bir-gcash-relaunch-first-e-tax-filing-and-payment-system-in-ph/

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/business/2016/04/13/bir-gcash-relaunch-first-e-tax-filing-payment-system-467732

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/business/2016/04/13/bir-gcash-relaunch-first-e-tax-filing-payment-system-467732


Philippines’s tax bureau taps mobile payment tax collection

Enterpriseinnovation.net | Apr. 19, 2016

http://www.enterpriseinnovation.net/article/philippines-tax-bureau-taps-mobile-payment-tax-

collection-177741850

Globe's GCash adapted for tax payment

Telecom Asia | Apr. 19, 2016

http://www.telecomasia.net/content/globes-gcash-adapted-tax-payment


2016 International Conference on Development: Oca, 6 Others Banner CDO Delegation To

International Confab on Urban Development

www.kagay-an.com | July11, 2016

http://www.kagay-an.com/2016-international-conference-urban-developmentoca6-banner-cdo-

delegation-intl-confab-urban-development/

QC shares best practices in electronic payment at USAID international conference

Philippine Information Agency | July 14, 2016

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/231468403099/qc-shares-best-practices-in-electronic-payment-

at-usaid-international-conference

Digital Commerce Expo Set To Revolutionise the Philippines This September 6-7

Yahoo Finance | Aug. 17, 2016

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/digital-commerce-expo-set-revolutionise-020000870.html

Advocates seek to boost e-payments growth by 2020

Rappler | Sept. 6, 2016

http://www.rappler.com/technology/features/145402-advocates-seek-epayments-growth-epay-

pilipinas


BSP set to launch new retail payments system

The Manila Standard | Mar. 8, 2017

http://thestandard.com.ph/business/banking-report/231260/bsp-set-to-launch-new-retail-payments-

system.html

BSP eyes two modes to boost NRPS implementation

The Manila Bulletin | Mar. 8, 2017

http://business.mb.com.ph/2017/03/08/bsp-eyes-two-modes-to-boost-nrps-implementation/

BSP eyes agreements with financial firms for NRPS

Business World | Mar. 9, 2017

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Finance&title=bsp-eyes-agreements-with-

financial-firms-for-nrps&id=141893

http://www.enterpriseinnovation.net/article/philippines-tax-bureau-taps-mobile-payment-tax-collection-177741850

http://www.enterpriseinnovation.net/article/philippines-tax-bureau-taps-mobile-payment-tax-collection-177741850

http://www.telecomasia.net/content/globes-gcash-adapted-tax-payment

http://www.kagay-an.com/2016-international-conference-urban-developmentoca6-banner-cdo-delegation-intl-confab-urban-development/

http://www.kagay-an.com/2016-international-conference-urban-developmentoca6-banner-cdo-delegation-intl-confab-urban-development/

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/231468403099/qc-shares-best-practices-in-electronic-payment-at-usaid-international-conference

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/231468403099/qc-shares-best-practices-in-electronic-payment-at-usaid-international-conference

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/digital-commerce-expo-set-revolutionise-020000870.html

http://www.rappler.com/technology/features/145402-advocates-seek-epayments-growth-epay-pilipinas

http://www.rappler.com/technology/features/145402-advocates-seek-epayments-growth-epay-pilipinas

http://thestandard.com.ph/business/banking-report/231260/bsp-set-to-launch-new-retail-payments-system.html

http://thestandard.com.ph/business/banking-report/231260/bsp-set-to-launch-new-retail-payments-system.html

http://business.mb.com.ph/2017/03/08/bsp-eyes-two-modes-to-boost-nrps-implementation/

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Finance&title=bsp-eyes-agreements-with-financial-firms-for-nrps&id=141893

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Finance&title=bsp-eyes-agreements-with-financial-firms-for-nrps&id=141893


Media coverage of signing of PSMB Charter

E-payments to spur faster economic growth – BSP

The Manila Times | Apr. 1, 2017

http://www.manilatimes.net/e-payments-spur-faster-economic-growth-bsp/320343/

ACHs to pave way for BSP’s retail e-payments

The Manila Bulletin | Apr. 1, 2017

http://business.mb.com.ph/2017/04/01/achs-to-pave-way-for-bsps-retail-e-payments/

Firms set up e-payments clearing houses

Business World | Apr. 1, 2017

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Finance&title=firms-set-up-e-payments-clearing-

houses&id=143107

BSP, banks establish shared clearing settlements system

The Philippine Star | Apr. 1, 2017

http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/04/01/1686396/bsp-banks-establish-shared-clearing-

settlements-system

Philippines to Establish Shared Clearing, Settlements System

Regulation Asia | April 3, 2017

http://www.regulationasia.com/content/philippines-establish-shared-clearing-settlements-system

Media coverage of Zamboanga City launch

Zamboanga City gov’t, USAid, DBP, online tax payment

Sunstar | Mar. 28, 2017

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2017/03/28/zamboanga-city-govt-usaid-dbp-

online-tax-payment-533513

City gov’t completes online payment system

Sunstar | Mar. 25, 2017

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2017/03/25/city-govt-completes-online-payment-

system-533053

USAID, City launch online payment for real property tax

Zamboanga Today | Mar. 2017

http://www.zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/top-stories/21177-usaid-city-launch-online-payment-for-

real-property-tax.html


BSP signs measures to expand e-commerce in the Philippines

GMA News Online | April 12, 2017

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/606807/money/economy/bsp-signs-measures-to-expand-e-

commerce-in-the-philippines

http://www.manilatimes.net/e-payments-spur-faster-economic-growth-bsp/320343/

http://business.mb.com.ph/2017/04/01/achs-to-pave-way-for-bsps-retail-e-payments/

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Finance&title=firms-set-up-e-payments-clearing-houses&id=143107

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Finance&title=firms-set-up-e-payments-clearing-houses&id=143107

http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/04/01/1686396/bsp-banks-establish-shared-clearing-settlements-system

http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/04/01/1686396/bsp-banks-establish-shared-clearing-settlements-system

http://www.regulationasia.com/content/philippines-establish-shared-clearing-settlements-system

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2017/03/28/zamboanga-city-govt-usaid-dbp-online-tax-payment-533513

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2017/03/28/zamboanga-city-govt-usaid-dbp-online-tax-payment-533513

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2017/03/25/city-govt-completes-online-payment-system-533053

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2017/03/25/city-govt-completes-online-payment-system-533053

http://www.zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/top-stories/21177-usaid-city-launch-online-payment-for-real-property-tax.html

http://www.zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/top-stories/21177-usaid-city-launch-online-payment-for-real-property-tax.html




b. No. of global knowledge-sharing events that highlight the Philippines e-payment environment/players


- Cards & Payments Philippines 2015, Manila, Philippines (Sept. 2-3, 2015)

- G-20 Responsible Finance Forum, Istanbul, Turkey (Sept. 2015)


- Mondato Summit Asia, Manila, Philippines (Oct. 20-22, 2015)

- Financial Times - Citibank Asia Pacific Financial Inclusion Summit, Manila, Philippines (Oct. 26-29,

2015)


- Innovative Strategies for Development Summit 2016, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ortigas Center, Pasig

City (June 8-10, 2016)

Year 2 Quarter 4 (Jul 1 – Sep 30, 2016)

- 2016 International Conference on Urban Development, Sofitel Plaza, Pasay City (July 12-13,

2016)

- Cards and Payments 2016, SMX Mall of Asia, Pasay City (Sept. 6-7, 2016)


- Seamless Payments Asia, Singapore (April 19-20, 2017)

2.2.3 Local Government and Decentralization

2.2.3-5 Number of sub-national entities receiving USG assistance that improve their performance



- Pulilan, Bulacan

- Zamboanga City


- Batangas City

- Quezon City


- Valenzuela City


- Tagbilaran City

- Iloilo City

PPP Public/Private Partnerships

PPP3 Number of organizations (for and not-for-profit, and government) that have applied new

technologies and/or management practices due to USG-supported Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)



- Pulilan, Bulacan

- Zamboanga City

- Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)



- Cagayan de Oro Electric Power & Light Company (CEPALCO)





- Batangas City

- Quezon City


- Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)


- Valenzuela City



- Tagbilaran City


- Iloilo City

EG.4.2-2

Number of financial intermediaries serving poor households and microenterprises supported by USG

assistance

Year 3, Quarter 1 (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2016)

- Land Bank of the Philippines


GNDR Gender

GNDR-2 Percentage of female participants in USG-assisted programs designed to increase access to

productive economic resources (assets, credit, income or employment)

Male Female Total % Male % Female

Year 1

DSWD – MCCT Davao del Norte - 3 3 0% 100%

NCR – MCCT Training QC, 7/24/15 1 13 14 7% 93%

NCR – MCCT Training Manila, 8/8/15 18 185 203 9% 91%

E-payments Technology & Innovations for

Business, Puerto Princesa City and local

chambers of commerce, 9/29 – 9/30

21 31 52 40% 60%

Year 1 Total 40 232 272 15% 85%

Year 2

FICCO Training, 3/19/16 to 3/20/16 2,455 6,421 8,876 28% 72%

Year 2 Total 2,455 6,421 8,876 28% 72%

Year 3

FICCO Training, 2/2/17 and 2/3/17 68 3 71 96% 4%

Orientation on RPT Payments – QC Mezza

Residents, 3/18/17

42 41 83 51% 49%

FICCO Financial Literacy Orientation,

4/26/17 and 4/27/17

68 64 132 52% 48%

Tagbilaran City e-Payments Forum, 6/6/17 24 21 45 53% 47%

Tagbilaran City Social Media Marketing,

eCommerce, and ePayments Workshop,

6/6/17 to 6/7/17

10 12 22 45% 55%

Year 3 Total (as of 6/30/2017) 212 141 353 60% 40%

Cumulative 2,707 6,794 9,501 28% 72%


U.S. Agency for International Development

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20523

Tel: (202) 712-0000

Fax: (202) 216-3524

www.usaid.gov

http://www.usaid.gov/

E-PESO ACTIVITY 9th Quarterly Reportpdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00N2BM.pdfPROGRAM OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION ... NBSFI National Baseline Study on Financial Inclusion ... PCHC Philippine

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