Market-vendor QR system present in over 900 LGUs at end of 2025

THE NUMBER of local government units (LGUs) that have integrated a central bank-backed quick response (QR) code program for public market vendors more than doubled last year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said 922 LGUs had adopted the Paleng-QR Ph Plus in 2025, more than doubling the year-earlier total.

“From 408 local government units in 2024, we now have more than 900 LGUs that have adopted the program, covering markets, mall stores, and transport hubs nationwide,” she said at a briefing in Dumaguete City.

By 2026, the BSP aims to grow the number to 1,700 LGUs, Ms. Romulo-Puyat said, not counting barangays.

She also noted that the Department of Information and Communications Technology has been tapped to broaden the program’s reach.

Ms. Romulo-Puyat said Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Rhoel R. Aguda will assist the central bank by supplying internet connectivity to unconnected markets.

“Secretary Aguda told us to write down kung saan ’yung mga palengke na walang internet connectivity, at bibigyan niya ng Starlink (Secretary Aguda told us to list the markets without internet connectivity and he will give them Starlink),” she said.

The BSP, together with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, launched the Paleng-QR Ph in June 2022 as part of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion.

In November 2022, it introduced Paleng-QR Ph Plus, which widened the program’s scope to include shopkeepers and tricycle operators and drivers.

The central bank said the initiative seeks to promote the “acceptance of digital payments…in all cities and municipalities.” — Katherine K. Chan