PPMI and Alipay+ have enabled Alipay+ on QR Ph, connecting Philippine merchants with international consumers.
According to the official press release, the integration allows international consumers to scan and pay at QR Ph-accepting merchants using their home e-wallets or banking apps, while local merchants continue to use their existing QR Ph codes to receive these payments. The move is aligned with the digital payments transformation goals set out by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippines' central bank.
Scale of the QR Ph network
According to the BSP's 2025 Report on E-Payments Measurement, digital payments accounted for 64.69% of retail transaction volume in the Philippines, and QR Ph transaction volumes grew by more than 13 times during 2025. The partnership extends this domestic infrastructure to international users, with PPMI stating that the connection opens new opportunities for 2.5 million local merchants and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that currently accept QR Ph payments.
Carmelita Araneta, General Manager of PPMI, said the partnership extends QR Ph's connectivity beyond the Philippines' borders, allowing Filipino merchants, particularly SMEs, to serve international customers without adopting new infrastructure. In addition, Danny Chung, General Manager of Alipay+ Global Growth Center at Ant International, said the aim is to let customers pay using apps they already have, while giving merchants access to a larger base of international consumers.
The QR Ph integration forms part of Alipay+'s broader approach of linking with national payment schemes to support interoperable mobile payments across regions. Alipay+ is now connected to more than 10 national QR payment schemes across Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Implications for merchants and the ecosystem
For MSMEs in the Philippines, the integration provides a route into cross-border commerce without requiring separate systems or agreements with individual foreign payment providers, since transactions continue to run through the existing QR Ph infrastructure. The BSP has been promoting QR Ph adoption as part of its wider digital payments agenda, and the connection with Alipay+ extends that domestic push into the realm of inbound international commerce, potentially benefiting merchants serving foreign travellers and digital consumers. Furthermore, Ant International noted that Alipay+ is also developing AI-based tools intended to support mobile payment providers and merchants as digital and mobile commerce continues to evolve.
