PH is Southeast Asia's last cash-on-delivery holdout

Southeast Asia may be moving toward a cashless future, but not everyone in the Philippines is ready to follow, with 12 percent of Filipino online shoppers saying nothing could convince them to give up cash-on-delivery.

That is roughly twice the share in most neighboring countries, with the Philippines expected to remain the only one of six Southeast Asian markets where cash-on-delivery exceeds 20 percent of online shopping value by 2027, according to a study by Xendit and Cube.

Old habits die hard

For now, cash-on-delivery accounts for about 23 percent of Philippine online shopping value, the highest among the six markets and ahead of Vietnam's 16 percent. 

But the habit is gradually fading, with 33 percent of Filipino shoppers saying they use cash-on-delivery much less than a year ago, although the shift is happening faster elsewhere in the region:

• Thailand: 45 percent are using cash-on-delivery much less.
• Indonesia: 40 percent have reduced their reliance on it.
• Vietnam: 37 percent are moving away from the payment method.
• Philippines: 33 percent are using it less, the slowest shift among these four markets.

Valerie Cai

Xendit head of global marketing 

Digital payments gain ground

The changing habits are opening opportunities for payment providers, with transactions using QR Ph and InstaPay, which allow shoppers to pay by scanning codes or transferring money instantly between banks, jumping 198 percent on Xendit's Philippine platform in the 15 months to April 2026.

These payment methods now account for about 13 percent of online shopping value on the platform, although electronic wallets led by GCash remain dominant, with wallet payments growing just 3 percent over the same period.

For online sellers, giving customers more ways to pay can mean the difference between making a sale and losing one, as 41 percent of Filipino respondents who abandoned a purchase in the previous three months blamed the absence of their preferred payment option.

Neighbors move faster

Across Southeast Asia, 32 percent of business leaders surveyed identified QR payments as seeing the strongest increase in customer demand, ahead of electronic wallets and bank transfers at 20 percent each.

Discounts and cashback are the most common incentives for shoppers willing to abandon cash-on-delivery across the region, offering businesses a potential way to change payment habits without forcing customers to switch.

Xendit expects cash-on-delivery to fall below 25 percent of regional online shopping value by 2027, leaving the Philippines as the last of the six markets where it is projected to account for more than a fifth of online purchases.

—Edited by Miguel R. Camus