QR Ph: what it means and how to get your code

What QR Ph means

Before QR Ph, each bank and e-wallet had its own QR code, and a GCash code couldn't be paid from another app. The BSP's Circular No. 1055, issued in October 2019, made banks and e-wallets acting as payment service providers adopt one national standard. The Philippine Payments Management, Inc. (PPMI), the payment system management body accredited by the BSP, developed it and named it QR Ph.

QR Ph is based on the EMV standard, the global standard for payment QR codes. The BSP said it was being used for two high-impact cases: person-to-person transfers and person-to-merchant payments.

In 2023 the BSP required the full switch. Providers had to move every QR payment service to QR Ph before 1 July 2023, and after that, according to the BSP, non-QR Ph or proprietary QR codes "shall be disabled and shall no longer be available to the public".

How to get your QR Ph code

Your code points to your account at your bank or e-wallet, so it comes from that app. In GCash, the steps on GCash's own page are:

1. Open the GCash app and tap QR at the bottom.
2. Tap Generate QR Code.
3. Select Receive Money via QR Code. This makes your personal QR code.
4. Show or send it to the person paying you.

For a full walk-through, including scanning, see how to get your GCash QR code.

In Maya or a bank app, look for the option to receive money by QR. Businesses that want a QR Ph code at a counter get it from their bank or payment provider, which also handles settlement.

Before you print a code, ask someone with a different app to pay you a small amount. Check that your name shows on their payment screen.

How to pay a QR Ph code

The steps are much the same in every app. Maya's version for a shop's printed code:

1. Open the app and choose its scan or pay option.
2. Scan the merchant's QR Ph code.
3. Type the correct amount, unless the code already has one.
4. Confirm the amount and complete the payment.

You and the merchant each get a confirmation. Maya notes that the experience may vary with other banks and e-wallets. GCash adds that you can upload a QR code from your saved images instead of pointing the camera, which helps when someone sends you their code as a picture.

Why we don't offer a QR Ph generator

A QR Ph code identifies your bank or e-wallet and your account there, in the format PPMI's technical specifications set. Those specifications are written for participating banks and e-wallets, and we couldn't get a public copy or an official example code to test against. Our rule for payment codes is to ship a generator only when its output matches the scheme's own published examples exactly. Without that, a code from us could send money to the wrong place, so use your app.

QR Ph logo and samples

The QR Ph logo and code samples belong to the scheme and the issuing apps. A sample code downloaded from the internet is someone else's account, so never print one. Your app's own code is the one to use.

For payment QR codes in other countries, and the ones you can make yourself, see how payment QR codes work.