Payments through QR Ph and InstaPay in the Philippines nearly tripled over 15 months, highlighting the rapid adoption of real-time digital payment methods even as cash-on-delivery (COD) remains more prevalent in the country than anywhere else in Southeast Asia.
Xendit, a payments infrastructure company, released the Xendit Ecommerce Payments Momentum Report 2026, produced with ecommerce data firm Cube. The Philippine findings are based on a survey of 1,000 Filipino online shoppers, part of a 6,000-person survey of online shoppers across six Southeast Asian markets, as well as Xendit’s transaction data.
Payments through QR Ph and InstaPay, the country’s real-time QR and bank transfer rails, grew 198% on Xendit’s platform in the 15 months through April 2026. The growth points to a broader shift in how Filipinos pay online, although the market remains heavily reliant on other payment methods, particularly cash-on-delivery and e-wallets.
The contrast is particularly evident at checkout. Among Filipino shoppers who abandoned an online purchase in the past three months, 41% said the main reason was that their preferred payment method was not offered, making it the most common checkout frustration among respondents in the Philippines.
“Filipino consumers have always been receptive to new technology and we see the same in digital payment, but they don’t all pay the same way. One wants an e-wallet, another scans a QR Ph code, another uses a card,” said Nazim Ali, president of Xendit.
“So for a business, going digital isn’t about choosing one main payment method and steering everyone onto it. It’s knowing which methods your digitally savvy customers actually use, offering those, and making sure each one is secure. If people can’t find the option they use, or don’t trust the checkout, they leave,” Ali added.
QR Ph and InstaPay are growing rapidly, but from a smaller base
QR Ph and InstaPay now account for about 13% of ecommerce value in Xendit’s Philippine data. Their rapid growth comes from a relatively smaller base as the country continues to transition toward real-time digital payments.
The Philippines remains a wallet-first market, with GCash dominant. But e-wallet payments on Xendit’s platform grew only 3% during the same 15-month period, compared with the 198% increase recorded for QR Ph and InstaPay.
The shift comes as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas continues to promote digital payments and expand the use of real-time payment infrastructure for everyday transactions.
The trend is also visible across Southeast Asia. In Xendit’s survey of 25 business leaders across the region, QR payments were the payment method most frequently identified as experiencing the strongest increase in customer demand, cited by 32% of respondents. E-wallets and bank transfers followed at 20% each.
Cash-on-delivery remains the Philippines’ defining exception
Despite the rapid growth of digital payment channels, cash-on-delivery remains deeply embedded in Philippine ecommerce.
COD accounts for about 23% of ecommerce value in Xendit’s Philippine data, the highest share among the six Southeast Asian markets covered by the report. Vietnam follows at about 16%, while the Philippine COD share is nearly twice the combined share of QR Ph and InstaPay.
The data indicates that Filipino consumers are gradually moving away from COD, but the shift is slower than elsewhere in the region. About 33% of Filipino respondents said they use COD much less than they did a year ago.
Still, 12% said nothing would persuade them to switch to digital payments, roughly twice the level seen in most other markets.
For consumers who are willing to make the switch, discounts and cashback are the most common incentives. That mirrors the broader regional pattern, where financial incentives remain the strongest driver for moving consumers from cash to digital payments.
The report projects that the Philippines will be the only one of the six markets covered where COD is expected to account for more than one-fifth of ecommerce value in 2027.
Payment choice can make or break a sale
The continued importance of COD comes alongside a broader finding about payment choice: Filipino shoppers are willing to abandon purchases when they cannot pay the way they prefer.
Among Filipino shoppers who abandoned an online purchase in the past three months, 41% said the main reason was that their preferred payment method was not offered.
The Philippines shares that pattern with Indonesia, where 51% cited a missing preferred payment option, and Malaysia, at 31%.
The reasons differ in other Southeast Asian markets. Security concerns were the leading reason for abandoning checkout in Vietnam, cited by 42% of respondents, and Thailand, at 33%.
For Philippine merchants, the findings underscore the need to accommodate a market where payment behavior is becoming more diverse rather than simply moving in one direction from cash to digital.
Offering QR Ph and InstaPay may capture consumers increasingly comfortable with real-time payments, while e-wallets and cards remain important to other shoppers. COD also continues to serve a substantial segment that has yet to fully embrace digital alternatives.
Fraud concerns expected to rise
As payment options expand, security is likely to become a bigger consideration for merchants.
Only 8% of business leaders in the same survey ranked fraud among their top two payment concerns today, but 48% expect it to be among their leading concerns within five years.
That could add another layer of complexity for Philippine merchants as they expand the number of payment methods offered at checkout.
The challenge will be balancing convenience, payment choice and security while serving consumers at different stages of the shift toward digital payments.
For Philippine merchants, the next few years will be defined by a market moving in two directions at once: rapid growth in real-time digital payments and a continued reliance on cash-on-delivery.
QR Ph and InstaPay are gaining ground quickly, but the Philippines is not abandoning cash at the same pace. Merchants that recognize both sides of that transition—and offer consumers the payment methods they trust while keeping each option secure—will be better positioned to convert more online shoppers into completed transactions.
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