PayMongo posts rapid growth in QR Ph payments

PAYMENTS made through QR Ph, the Philippines’ national QR code standard, are gaining traction as it overtook cards’ and e-wallets’ share in transaction volume in the first half, according to data from financial technology company PayMongo Group.

PayMongo said on Thursday that completed transactions made through its platform grew by 89% year on year to nearly 10 million in the first semester from 5.2 million previously, with its merchant base expanding by 93%.

The company attributed the growth to rising adoption among online stores, physical retailers, service businesses, and enterprises that have integrated PayMongo into their customer-facing platforms.

QR Ph accounted for 55% of total payment volume on the platform, surpassing e-wallets (21%), cards (19%), and online banking (4%), it said, and up from just a 16% share in 2025.

“QR Ph now commands more than half of the payment volume (with more than 510% year on year growth), while cards have declined not just in share but in absolute volume, down 8% year over year. Additionally, direct online banking declined by 26% year over year,” PayMongo said.

These show that Filipino merchants are becoming increasingly mobile-first, with QR Ph and e-wallets accounting for 76% of payment volume and nine out of 10 transactions in the same period.

It added that the number of merchants processing payments through PayMongo’s in-store QR Ph product more than doubled from a year ago, with transaction volume more than tripling.

“This is the same QR infrastructure behind the platform’s dominant online sales volumes, now extending into physical retail, food service, and service businesses across the country,” it said.

“Taken together, these channels reflect a platform that has moved well beyond site-only adoption. The merchants on PayMongo in 2026 are as likely to be a local neighborhood store collecting QR payments as they are a funded startup running transactions through an API (application programming interface)-integrated checkout.”

The company added that everyday transactions, such as sari-sari store top-ups, food delivery purchases, and utility bill payments, have largely shifted to mobile-native payment methods.

PayMongo said QR Ph’s interoperability has helped accelerate adoption by making it easier for small businesses to accept and consolidate digital payments.

Meanwhile, cards accounted for just 7% of all transactions despite making up 19% of total payment volume.

“The average card transaction is significantly higher in value than a QR or wallet payment (which means) cards remain the instrument of choice for high-ticket purchases, corporate expenses, and one-time large payments,” PayMongo said.

It also said that its largest merchants by payment volume are those that have built the platform directly into their websites and apps via APIs, while Shopify merchants, who are mostly online sellers who have moved from informal marketplaces into structured storefronts, grew 18% year on year with payment volume up 6%.

“PayMongo Pages, the platform’s no-code payment page product, tells a similar story at an earlier stage of the merchant journey: merchants collected almost a billion in payments without a single line of code,” it said. “For small businesses that cannot afford web development, Pages has functionally eliminated the barrier between accepting cash only and accepting digital payments.” — Justine Irish D. Tabile