Beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps are being migrated from the use of automatic teller machines to e-wallets to facilitate the sending of money to them, according to the Department of Social Works and Development.

“The wave of the future is cashless transactions. This is an upgrade from the basic deposit accounts from the current automated teller machine cards to electronic or digital wallets such as GCash and PayMaya,” Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez, who is also the agency’s spokesperson, said.

Lopez pointed out that e-wallets are crucial to 4Ps beneficiaries who live in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas since they would no longer have to look for an ATM which is usually 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 Northern Mindanao (Region 10), Eastern Visayas (Region 8), Bicol (Region 5), Western Visayas (Region 6), and the 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 24, 27 and 29 February.

On 24 February, 58 4Ps beneficiaries in the National Capital Region 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.