Search interest in digital payment acceptance outside Metro Manila has nearly tripled in five years, pointing to a growing number of provincial businesses selling online and accepting digital payments directly.
An analysis by PayMongo of Google Trends data found that searches for terms such as “accept Maya,” “accept GCash,” “accept QR Ph,” and “accept payments online” across Central Luzon, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and the Davao Region were 177% higher in the first half of 2026 than during the same period in 2022.
The growth is accelerating outside the capital.
In 2025, payment-acceptance searches jumped 238% year over year in Northern Mindanao, 192% in Western Visayas, and 130% in the Davao Region. By comparison, the increase in Metro Manila was 43%.
Searches for “GCash QR” also hit five-year highs in Western Visayas in May 2026, Northern Mindanao in October 2025, and the Davao Region in April 2025.
The trend suggests digital commerce is no longer concentrated in major marketplaces or Metro Manila. More sellers appear to be using social media, their own online stores, and QR payments to sell directly to customers.
PayMongo’s own business data supports the trend. Completed transactions across its merchant network grew 89% from the first half of 2025 to the first half of 2026, while its merchant base nearly doubled, increasing 93%.
The shift is also changing how Filipinos shop online.
Searches for Shopee and Lazada fell 37% between the first half of 2022 and the first half of 2026 as consumers increasingly browse and shop inside mobile apps. Challenger platforms such as TikTok Shop, Temu, and Facebook Marketplace increased their share of shopping-platform searches from about 2% in 2022 to 8% to 13% today.
Eastern Visayas led at 13%, followed by Central Visayas and Davao at 12% each. Metro Manila stood at 10%.
In Davao, growing searches for seller-center tools and “accept GCash” indicate that more people are using digital platforms to become sellers, not just shoppers.
Metro Manila is seeing a similar increase in entrepreneurship. Searches for “online business ideas,” “how to sell online,” and related terms increased 59% in the first half of 2026 from a year earlier.
Another emerging trend is the wider use of QR payments. Searches for “Maya QR,” which were minimal before 2024, have increased sharply in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Central Visayas.
For businesses, the shift means accepting digital payments is becoming less of an optional feature and more of a basic requirement, particularly as more sellers operate outside traditional marketplaces.