BSP mandates full adoption of QR Ph codes by July 2023

The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has approved the guidelines that will facilitate the full transition of all quick response (QR) code-enabled payments services to the National QR Code Standard or “QR Ph.”

The guidelines mandate BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) acting as payment service providers (PSPs) and offering QR code-enabled payment services to use and display QR Ph on their internet and mobile channels starting 1 July 2023.

The PSPs, including those participating in the InstaPay automated clearing house, are required to submit the status of their compliance with the QR Ph standard within 30 days from the date of the memorandum.

“With the active development of the industry in this space, it is timely for the BSP to ensure that QR-enabled payments are supported through the interoperable QR Ph standard. This way, PSPs and their clients would be able to fully realize the benefits brought by the convenience, speed, and ease of using QR Ph,” said Governor Felipe M. Medalla.

“The QR Ph standard is currently being adopted for two high-impact use cases in the country, namely person-to-person and person-to-merchant payments. These transactions form the bulk of the average total retail payments made by Filipinos in a month. Standardizing QR codes enhances customer and merchant experience, leading to greater usage of digital payments,” Deputy Governor Mamerto E. Tangonan added.

The guidelines were issued via a memorandum that provides for the transition of non-QR Ph codes for electronic payments services to the QR Ph standard before 1 July 2023. Thereafter, non-QR Ph codes or proprietary QR codes shall be disabled and shall no longer be available to the public.

PSPs are also reminded to provide appropriate product training and guidance on the features of QR Ph to their employees, including store cashiers and managers.

The memorandum implements BSP Circular No. 1055 on the “Adoption of the National Quick Response Code Standard” issued in October 2019.

Circular No. 1055 requires BSFIs that serve as PSPs to adopt the national QR code standard in their payment services. This is aimed at transforming the fragmented QR-driven payment services into interoperable payment solutions, eliminating the need for merchants and customers to maintain several accounts and display numerous QR codes.

The Philippine Payments Management, Inc., which is the payment system management body accredited by the BSP, developed QR Ph in accordance with the provisions of Circular No. 1055.