Visa, a global leader in digital payments, is empowering different financial sector stakeholders to adopt the xPays - or mobile payment providers such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay – in the country. In an enablement workshop, Visa collaborated with regional partners – including Google Southeast Asia, Vietcombank, and Starbucks Vietnam – to gather key insights and best practices on how local banks can effectively integrate, launch, and scale xPays in the Filipino market.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (“BSP”) recently stated that mobile payment providers like Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay are classified as technology service providers, and not operators of payment systems (OPS), which require prior registration to operate. This means the xPays cannot hold funds for Filipino consumers and will need to be linked to users’ credit, debit, or e-money accounts to work.
 From left to right – Visa Philippines Head of Product Ezer Escolar, Visa Head of Product, Regional Southeast Asia Poojyata Katar, Vietcombank Deputy Director of Retail Product Department Nguyen |
Hong Thanh, Starbucks Vietnam Head of Business Development and Marketing Nguyen Bao Tram, Google Payments Strategic Partnerships Lead for Asia Pacific TG Ramakrishnan, and Visa Head of Product for Vietnam and Laos Kelvin Utomo |
Once a Visa card is added to a digital wallet like Google Pay, it can be used to tap and pay in stores, online, or in apps, without needing the physical card. Every transaction is protected by Visa’s security technology, offering peace of mind with every purchase.
In Southeast Asia, tokens are used through xPays in markets such as Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand to create a seamless and secure payments experience for consumers and businesses. Tokenization is at the core of this technology, where every time a Visa card is added to an xPay, the actual card number is replaced with a unique digital token. This token is stored securely on the device and is used, alongside a dynamic cryptogram, to authorize each payment. This means the cardholder’s real account information is never shared with merchants or stored on the device, which significantly reduces the risk of fraud.
Visa has issued more than 10 billion tokens as of 2024, with more than 1.5 million e-commerce merchants transacting with Visa tokens everyday. Visa's Token Service (VTS) contributed to a US$2 billion uplift for merchants in Asia Pacific in 2023, while payment fraud rates have been cut by more than half (58%).
Visa’s enablement workshop featured sessions from Google Payments Strategics Partnership Lead for Asia Pacific TG Ramakrishnan, Vietcombank Deputy Director of Retail Product Department Nguyen Hong Thanh, and Starbucks Vietnam Head of Business Development and Marketing Nguyen Bao Tram, highlighting how xPays enable growth for both card issuers and cardholders.
"Vietcombank has been a trusted partner of Visa in delivering seamless payment experiences to Vietnamese consumers. We’re proud to share our key learnings with peers across the region," said Nguyen Hong Thanh, Deputy Director of Retail Product Department from Vietcombank, the largest commercial bank in Vietnam. Both Google Pay and Samsung Pay have been available in Vietnam since 2022, while Apple Pay went live in 2023.
“Digital wallets like Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay amplify the power of Visa by delivering secure, seamless, and innovative payment experiences for consumers, businesses, and our banking partners. Each tap is protected by Visa’s network token technology, ensuring trust and security while advancing the Philippines’ digital payments landscape. As a trusted global partner, Visa is proud to support the country’s financial inclusion goals by connecting local innovations to our global network –helping Filipinos pay and be paid with confidence, and driving inclusive growth across communities,” said Jeffrey Navarro, Visa Country Manager for the Philippines.
The adoption of xPays in the Philippines is seen to expand digital and financial inclusion for both Filipinos and foreign travelers, who have come to expect seamless digital payments. Across Asia Pacific, 97% of travelers say that they will bring credit, debit, or prepaid cards on their trips, while only 17% intend to bring foreign currency. In the Philippines, 44% of travelers report encountering various payment problems, including non-acceptance by merchants.
According to the latest BSP data, digital retail payments now account for 57.4% of total transaction volume in the country, exceeding the 2024 target under the Philippine Development Plan and on track to meet the 70-percent target by 2028.
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