Senator Christopher “Bong” Go has filed a bill that would require government agencies to expand digital payment services, a move aimed at reducing long queues, speeding up transactions and making the delivery of public funds more efficient while keeping cash payments as an option.

Senate Bill 2330, or the proposed eBayad Act, seeks to adopt secure and interoperable digital payment systems for government collections and disbursements, covering taxes, fees, salaries, allowances, honoraria, cash assistance and other public expenditures.

“Many Filipinos already use online banking, e-wallets and other digital payment platforms. We need to ensure these systems are safe, reliable and easy to use, especially for government transactions,” Go said.

The proposal cites Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data showing that digital payments accounted for 52.8 percent of retail payment transactions by volume in 2023, surpassing the central bank’s 50-percent target under its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap.