More than 100 tourism-related businesses in Siargao have started accepting contactless card payments ahead of the island’s hosting of the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour, following a digital payment initiative involving Visa, USSC Money Services Inc. (UMSI) and the Department of Tourism (DOT).
The rollout, announced Nov. 9 in Surigao del Norte, covers accommodations, restaurants, cafes, surfing services and souvenir shops. It aims to give domestic and international visitors more payment options while helping local businesses accommodate growing demand for digital transactions.
The initiative uses U Accept, a payment feature powered by Visa Accept and integrated into UMSI’s uGrow app. It allows merchants to accept contactless card payments through eligible smartphones without requiring conventional point-of-sale terminals.
The collaboration supports Siargao’s inaugural hosting of the WSL Championship Tour, which brings 40 professional surfers to compete at the island’s Cloud 9 reef break.
Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay said the program forms part of the government’s efforts to improve the digital capabilities of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and strengthen the country’s tourism infrastructure.
“When we empower our MSMEs and tourism frontliners to accept digital payments, we enable them to keep in step with evolving tourist preferences and give our visitors the best that Filipino hospitality can offer,” Angara-Mathay said.
Visa Philippines Country Manager Jeffrey Navarro said digital payment acceptance could help local businesses benefit from tourism growth.
“Through the Visa-powered uGrow app, payments innovation is within easier reach of Filipino entrepreneurs, giving them secure and seamless ways to accept payments from both Filipino consumers and tourists traveling to the Philippines,” Navarro said.
UMSI President and CEO Jose Xavier Gonzales said the partnership was intended to make digital payment solutions more accessible to businesses of different sizes.
The uGrow app also allows merchants to issue digital receipts through email, monitor transaction histories, track sales and manage inventory. Payments are settled to merchants’ U Visa Prepaid Cards on a near-real-time basis, according to the companies.
Visa and UMSI have also conducted capacity-building workshops through the DOT’s regional offices to introduce the platform to local entrepreneurs.
UMSI reported onboarding more than 1,500 merchants nationwide since the platform’s launch. Of these, 40% are in Luzon, 31% in Mindanao and 29% in the Visayas.
Visa cited its 2023 Philippines SMB Digital Payments Insights Study, which surveyed 503 micro and small businesses. The study found that 83% of Filipino small-business owners reported increased turnover after accepting card payments, while 41% said customers spent more when paying by card.
Among businesses that did not accept cards, 67% said they would adopt a digital payment solution if given support.
Full disclosure: All news articles published on the TechSabado website are written by human journalists, unless otherwise specified. Final text editing is also performed by human editors, with artificial intelligence (AI) used only to assist with additional grammar and style guide corrections..
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