Sterling Bank accelerates adoption of digital payments through QR code

Sterling Bank of Asia (SBA) continues to strengthen its digitization efforts by improving its online banking platform with the implementation of the Sterling Bank QR Pay. Among the BSP-supervised financial institutions, SBA is one of the first thrift banks that has adopted the National Quick Response Code Standard (QRPh).

“The advantage of using QR code is that it facilitates instant payment or fund transfer without the need to manually key in the account details,” said Mr. Cecilio San Pedro, SBA's President and CEO.  This lessens the errors and makes fund transfers and payments fast, safe, and convenient.

QRPh makes QR codes of different banks and e-wallets interoperable. Through Sterling Bank’s mobile app, the QR Pay is now accessible to clients -- offering a convenient alternative to sending funds to, or receiving funds from, other QRPh-compliant local banks and e-wallets.

"Now that our customers' financial needs are evolving and transactions are shifting more in favor of e-payments, we want to ensure that our digital platform addresses their banking requirements," added San Pedro. The bank’s online banking facility also allows fund transfers via Instapay and Pesonet. Fees for these transactions, including QR Pay, will remain free until December 31, 2020.

In November 2019, BSP and the payment industry participants launched the National Quick Response (QR) Code Standard. With the growing acceptance and use of contactless payments, it is also set to introduce the person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions via QRPh soon to complement the person-to-person (P2P) transactions.