Cashless payment is gaining ground and more Filipinos are realizing the advantages of using cards and apps instead of cash. These are the findings of the latest Visa Payment Attitudes study which involved 3,000 respondents from across eight markets in Southeast Asia.

However, cash is still king, especially among the unbanked and underserved Filipinos in some rural areas.

Contactless payments awareness and usage in the Philippines have also increased compared to 2017. The study showed awareness of contactless payments increased by 11% or about 80% this year compared to last year. In addition, 84% of respondents have also indicated that they are interested to use contactless payments.

The study also found that a huge number of respondents (75%) are now looking into more card payments. Two out of three respondents in the Philippines tried going cashless and close to 60% have gone cashless for at least a few days. Top benefits cited by respondents on why they use cashless payments include increased convenience, hassle-free, and they don’t need to carry as much cash.

“We have seen strong growth in contactless payments in the Philippines, especially after partnerships with key merchants,” said Dan Wolbert, Visa’s Country Manager for the Philippines and Guam, in a statement.”We continue to see good double-digit growth in terms of spend and transactions made by Filipino cardholders.”

The research also shows how Filipinos are open to exploring technology use cases to pay for goods and services. Such technology leverages card-on-file payments or digital payments (e-payments). Six in 10 respondents express interest in using AI (artificial intelligence) chatbots to order online and make payments for purchases. About 90% of respondents are also interested in using self-service checkout kiosks instead of going to cashier counters, and 72% prefer to use payment cards, contactless payments or biometric payments.

Wolbert also said Visa will continue to work on a few priorities in the Philippines such as growing digital payments usage and expand merchant acceptance footprint for digital payments.

Transportation in the Philippines is a category where Filipinos are keen to use e-payments. Based on the study, almost 9 out of 10 Filipinos are generally supportive of e-payments for transportation which includes jeepneys, buses, trains, taxis, and private car hires. In fact, more than half of the respondents think it is more convenient to pay using credit or debit cards for their transportation fares.