The Philippine central bank is a step closer to shaping its central bank digital currency (CBDC) roadmap after findings from Project Agila yielded gains in settlement automation, interbank payment efficiency, and large-value cross-border transactions.
Project Agila is a wholesale CBDC (wCBDC) initiative launched by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in September 2023 in an attempt to modernize the Philippines’ financial infrastructure using emerging technologies, specifically distributed ledger technology (DLT) and tokenization.
In a recent statement, BSP Governor Eli Remolona, Jr. said the results of Project Agila’s pilot showed potential of improving how money moves within the local financial system by enabling banking institutions to settle financial securities almost instantly and support the development of new financial services that would cater to the growing demands of the financial industry amid the country’s digitalization.
“Those are the opportunities we saw that make economic sense,” said BSP Deputy Governor for Payments and Currency Management Sector Mamerto Tangonan, adding that the central bank is looking into finishing its CBDC roadmap in about three months.
“But anyway, as we write it, we are preparing for ‘Project Aguila 2.’ We’ll build on Aguila 1. But this time, we intend to launch. We intend to pilot,” the official said as quoted by local daily Business Mirror.
While Project Agila proves to have economic gains, the BSP report was quick to point out the risks posed by the technologies responsible for the wCBDC, along with the regulatory challenges that come with it.
In this regard, the central bank called on authorities from both the public and private sectors to collaborate in introducing risk management standards that would help address new vulnerabilities associated with wCBDC and other emerging technologies.
“Through strong coordination across the payments industry, financial market infrastructures, and government agencies, we aim to develop not only a unified payments platform but also a bold and forward-looking blueprint for the future of Philippines’ national payments system,” the BSP stated in its report.
QR Ph leads digital payment shift
In other news, more merchants and consumers were found embracing QR code-based transactions, with the national QR code standard, QR Ph, becoming the most widely used payment option for everyday transactions among businesses nationwide, according to a recent study conducted by fintech firm PayMongo.
Data from the nearly 10 million completed transactions processed by PayMongo from January to June 2026 shows that QR Ph accounted for 55% of total payment volume processed in the first half of the year, overtaking card payments (19%), e-wallets (21%), and online banking (4%), the Manila Bulletin reported.
The result shows a more than 510% increase from the same period last year, demonstrating Filipinos’ growing demand for a low-cost, interoperable payment option that allows them to accept transactions from multiple banks and e-wallets with ease.
“For small businesses managing multiple payment terminals or apps, this consolidation simplified everything,” explained PayMongo.
While QR Ph dominated the first half of the year, PayMongo said these are only small transactions, noting that cards remain the top choice for merchants and consumers purchasing high-value items, corporate expenses, and one-time large payments.
The company said that the Philippine central bank’s move to launch the QR Ph in 2019 not only supported the country’s transition to digital payments but also helped struggling physical retailers as more sellers resort to e-commerce.
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