Starting July 1, 2023, QR Ph will be the only standard for all QR code-enabled payment services in the Philippines.
QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes that can be scanned by smartphones or other devices to initiate payments or transfer information. They are widely used in the Philippines for person-to-person and person-to-merchant payments, which form the bulk of the average total retail payments made by Filipinos in a month.
As the national QR code standard of the Philippines, it is supervised and supported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The QR Ph code is identified by the logo at the center of the QR code that has the colors of the Philippine flag – yellow, blue, and red.
It is interoperable, meaning it can be used to pay or send money even if the sender and receiver have different banks or e-money issuers.
QR Ph is part of BSP Circular No. 1055 on the “Adoption of the National Quick Response Code Standard” issued in October 2019, which requires all participating payment service providers, including banks and non-bank electronic money issuers, to adopt QR Ph for interoperability. The circular also aims to unify 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.
After July 1, 2023, non-QR Ph codes or proprietary QR codes will be disabled and will no longer be available to the public.
