QR Ph: how businesses accept QR Ph payments

What QR Ph is

Before QR Ph, each bank and wallet had its own QR format, and a shop needed a different code for each app. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) set QR Ph as a common standard so that codes work across institutions. It was introduced in 2019 for person-to-person transfers and later extended to person-to-merchant (P2M) payments, which is the version businesses use to get paid.

Behind the code, a QR Ph payment is an interbank transfer carried over InstaPay, the Philippine system for smaller-value electronic fund transfers. For the customer it simply feels like scanning and confirming inside the app they already use. Codes carry the QR Ph mark, which tells the payer that their banking or wallet app should be able to read it.

How a customer pays with QR Ph

1. 01

   A code is shown

   At checkout, on an invoice or at the counter, the merchant displays a QR Ph code.

2. 02

   The customer scans it

   They open a participating bank or wallet app, such as GCash, Maya or their bank’s mobile app, and scan the code.

3. 03

   They confirm the amount

   A dynamic code arrives with the amount already filled in; with a static code the customer types the amount themselves.

4. 04

   The merchant is notified

   Your provider tells your system the payment completed, and you release the order.

Static and dynamic QR Ph codes

A static code is printed once and reused: it identifies the merchant but not the order, so every payment has to be matched by hand or by asking the customer for proof. That works for a small stall, not for an online shop.

A dynamic code is generated per transaction and carries the amount and a reference. Online sellers and platforms should insist on dynamic codes, because they make automatic reconciliation possible and stop customers from paying the wrong amount.

Ways a merchant can accept QR Ph

When comparing options, ask whether codes are generated per order, how payment confirmation reaches your system, how unpaid codes expire, and what you receive for daily reconciliation.

• Through your own bank or a local acquirer. Philippine businesses can ask a participating bank or e-money issuer for a merchant QR Ph setup, usually tied to a local business account.
• Through a payment gateway. The gateway presents QR Ph alongside its other methods behind one API and reviews your company under its own KYB. This is the usual route for online businesses and for companies incorporated outside the Philippines.

QR Ph next to GCash and Maya

QR Ph does not replace wallet buttons. Customers who live in one wallet often prefer tapping its name at checkout, while customers who bank with a traditional bank find QR Ph the easiest way to pay from their bank app. Offering QR Ph together with the major wallets covers both groups with very little extra work for the shopper.

Integration notes for QR Ph

• Show the code large enough to scan from a phone held next to a laptop, and give mobile users a way to save or open it, since they cannot scan their own screen.
• Display the amount and order reference beside the code.
• Expire unpaid codes and say so on the page.
• Release goods only on a confirmed payment notification, not when the customer says they have paid.