Track: Undergraduate Research Competition

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed the use of digital payments. However, this is still far from reaching the cashless economy that Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas seeks. With the ease of lockdown restrictions, cash may still dominate physical transactions due to the limited adoption of e-wallets in the country. This study aimed to determine whether Filipino consumers prefer the use of cash or e-wallets in dealing with in-store transactions. A self-administered survey was distributed to 252 individuals residing in Greater Manila and Pampanga. It gathered socio-demographic variables and a Likert scale to measure factors, namely performance, usefulness, trust, ease of use, security, responsiveness, transparency, perceived enjoyment, and behavioral intention. The results of the survey were analyzed through Non-Parametric Tests such as the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, Kruskal-Wallis Test, Mann-Whitney U Test and Kendall-Theil Test. The results of the study showed that most of the Filipino consumers still prefer having cash transactions in the current and future times and are not yet able to adapt to the usage of e-wallet. Having an aim to become a ‘cashless’ society, e-wallet service providers must make improvements to encourage more consumers to use e-wallets in dealing with in-store transactions.