The Department of Social Welfare and Development over the weekend said it is now in the process of migrating beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to e-wallets which can easily be used to send and receive money, pay bills, purchase food, as well as other goods and services.

“The wave of the future is cashless transactions. This is an upgrade from the 4Ps beneficiaries basic deposit accounts from the current automated teller machine (ATM) cards to electronic or digital wallets such as G-Cash and Pay Maya,” Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez, who is also the agency’s spokesperson, said.

Lopez pointed out that e-wallets are most helpful to 4Ps beneficiaries living in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA) since they would no longer have to troop to the ATM which are situated in the town proper.

“For GIDA beneficiaries, going to the nearest ATM is costly and hard. E-wallets like Gcash that have thousands of merchant partners serve as an easier way to get their regular cash grants,” the spokesperson explained.

In line with the DSWD’s planned migration to e-wallets, the 4Ps national program office held a simultaneous pilot implementation of its Digital Financial Literacy Program in five regions across the country that included Northern Mindanao (Region 10), Eastern Visayas (Region 8), Bicol (Region 5), Western Visayas (Region 6), and Caraga Region.

Some 50 beneficiaries in each of the pilot areas in Cagayan de Oro City; Guiuan, Eastern Samar; Bulan, Sorsogon; Iloilo City; and Esperanza, Agusan del Sur were invited to participate in the simultaneous digital financial literacy seminars conducted on February 24, 27, and 29.

Last Saturday, 24 February, some 58 beneficiaries of 4Ps in the National Capital Region (NCR) learned the importance of digital literacy and savings during the pilot implementation of the 4Ps Digital Financial Literacy Program at the DSWD Central Office Auditorium, in Quezon City.

Resource speakers from Landbank of the Philippines (LBP), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Foundation, and mobile banking applications, GCash and Pay Maya, were present to discuss the different digital financial services that the 4Ps beneficiaries can use to efficiently save money.

Simultaneous with the NCR activity, the 4Ps beneficiaries in DSWD Field Office -10 (Northern Mindanao) in Cagayan de Oro City also underwent Digital Financial Literacy orientation where they also learned online banking safety to prevent themselves from scams and fraud

“Since 2019, the DSWD has been embarking on financial inclusion initiatives to ensure that all 4Ps beneficiaries have fully functioning transaction accounts that they can utilize to help them save money and empower them to become more financially independent,” Lopez said.

The initiative is to help 4Ps beneficiaries to access a wide array of financial opportunities to support their economic sustainability, according to the DSWD spokesperson.

“With the pilot implementation of the Digital Financial Literacy Program in the Family Development Sessions (FDS) of 4Ps household-beneficiaries, we are further capacitating them about the basics of financial literacy such as mobile banking, budget and savings, and consumer protection, among others,” Lopez said.

The 4Ps Digital Financial Literacy Program is being conducted by the DSWD in partnership with the Landbank of the Philippines (LBP); Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Foundation; Ayala Foundation; GCash; and Pay Maya.