Digital wallets usage in the Philippines: determining the impact of demographics on complementarity versus substitutability
Date
2021-07
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Abstract
Digital wallets, otherwise known as e-wallets, have become more frequently used as a financial system in current times, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to this, the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced its target to shift 50% of retail transactions to digital transactions, and it begs the question as to whether said digital wallets are meant to replace existing financial systems such as bank accounts, or act as a complementary service to these institutions. The researchers conducted
a survey with e-wallet consumers as the respondents to understand consumer insights regarding their usage of digital wallets. Descriptive statistics were used to determine how many viewed their usage of e-wallets as complements or substitutes for bank accounts, and the researchers ran a chi-square test of
independence to determine whether their demographic traits had a relationship with their e-wallet usage.
The results of this study found that the majority treat e-wallets as a complementary service, though many
also believe that e-wallets are generally more useful than bank accounts, reflected in the attitudinal
questions. Out of the demographic variables used in the model, only gender, age, and employment status
had a significant relationship with an individual’s usage of e-wallets. Overall, this new financial system
brought about by e-wallets should be treated as an extension of the current financial systems, serving to
provide inclusivity among those who cannot access traditional banking.