Blog
News, stories, and how-to's from the PayMongo community.
Dropshipping in the Philippines: Why COD May Not Be Optimal Anymore
You found a supplier. You built the store. You ran the ads. Then a Php1,200 order comes in, you pay the supplier upfront, the courier delivers it, and the customer refuses to accept the package. You just paid for the product, the shipping out, and the shipping back. You earned nothing. That is the hidden math of cash on delivery, and it remains a major payment option for dropshipping businesses in the Philippines. But the ground has shifted. Digital payments made up 64.7% of retail payment vol
The Checkout Was Never The Point
PayMongo won two categories at the 2026 Asian Banking & Finance Fintech Awards, one verdict on the same bet. Getting paid online used to be the hard part of running a business. It isn't anymore. Any merchant can accept cards, e-wallets, or a QR Ph scan within days of deciding to. Acceptance became table stakes — and the real friction moved deeper into the business: settlements that arrive slowly, Friday afternoons lost to manual disbursements, and growth capital that banks won't extend without
Sales Invoice vs Official Receipt: What the BIR Requires
Since April 2024, the Official Receipt is no longer the BIR’s primary proof of sale. The Sales Invoice is, both for goods and for services. Most Philippine businesses have made the switch on paper. Far fewer have caught the part that actually costs money: the invoice you issue is now the document that starts your tax clock, whether or not your customer has paid you. This guide covers what to issue, when to issue it, and the two documents most SMEs still get wrong. The short answer The Invoic
The House of Puto Bao Story: From One Kiosk to Three Branches and 30+ Products
From a struggling MRT kiosk to a media-celebrated brand with 3x growth and a catalog of over 30 regional delicacies, House of Puto Bao reinforced their backend operations to avoid facing payment bottlenecks and fake payment screenshots.
InstaPay for Business: What the New ₱500,000 Transfer Limit Means for Philippine Businesses
For years, ₱50,000 was the most you could send in a single InstaPay transfer. Paying a ₱180,000 supplier invoice? Four transfers. Running payroll? Batch it through PESONet and wait, or cut a check. That changed on 29 July 2026. The BSP and Philippine Payments Management, Inc. (PPMI) raised InstaPay’s per-transaction limit for registered businesses from ₱50,000 to ₱500,000 on the same 24/7 real-time rail. More money, fewer transfers, same real-time speed. Here’s what changed, what didn’t, w
Dissecting the Credit Gap Amongst Filipinos: Why the Gap Isn't Just About Loan Access
For a small business, access to credit is often treated as a yes-or-no question: can the business qualify for a loan? The question is certainly black or white. But what most miss is that businesses don't stay the same size after gaining access to a loan. A business may start by borrowing to restock inventory or cover a short-term cash gap. As it grows, its needs can change. It may need more working capital, a larger facility, or financing at a different point in its operating cycle. So, wh
What Is Capital in Business? Types, Sources, and How to Get It in the Philippines
Capital is one of the most misunderstood terms in business. It can refer to the money a founder puts into a company, the assets a business uses to operate, or the resources available to fund growth. These are related, but they are not the same thing. Understanding the difference matters when deciding how to fund a business. A bank loan, an investor, supplier credit, and reinvested profits may all provide capital, but each comes with a different cost. This guide explains what capital means in
How to Get a QR Ph Code for Your Business in 2026 (Step-by-Step)
The first thing to know about how to get a QR Ph code is where it comes from. Not the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. BSP wrote the standard; it does not issue codes. Your code comes from a participating bank, e-money issuer, or payment service provider, and that choice sets three things you will live with: your transaction fee, your settlement speed, and whether the same account can also take payments online. This guide covers the requirements, the static-versus-dynamic decision, activation acros
BSP Updates 2026: What's New for Philippine Merchants
2026 changed how Philippine merchants get paid in two different ways. Six BSP issuances rewrote the rules – pricing, authentication, the line between a merchant account and a personal one, cash thresholds. Then in July, the BSP and PPMI launched three new payment rails, including the country's first interoperable direct debit. Most of the rule-making was written for banks and payment providers, not for you. The new rails are the opposite; they're capabilities you can actually use. This page tr
Online Selling Terms in the Philippines: What UP, LF, MOP and 40+ More Actually Mean
You post a pair of sneakers online. Within minutes, the comments start rolling in. "UP." "LP?" "MOP?" "RFS?" If you're new to online selling in the Philippines, it can feel like everyone is speaking a different language. In a way, they are. Over the years, Filipino sellers have developed their own shorthand across Facebook Marketplace, buy-and-sell groups, Instagram, TikTok Shop, and live selling. Knowing what these terms mean helps you respond faster, avoid misunderstandings, and keep buyer
Search Interest in Accepting Digital Payments Surges Beyond NCR – Nearly Triple in Five Years
Search interest in accepting digital payments grew fastest in Northern Mindanao, Western Visayas and Davao in 2025 – outpacing Metro Manila roughly 3-5.5x – and kept climbing into 2026. Interest in digital payment acceptance among businesses outside Metro Manila has reached its highest level in five years, according to PayMongo's analysis of Google Trends data. The study underscores growing demand for digital payment solutions across Philippine provinces. Across major provincial regions, searc
Southeast Asia's Shift to Digital Payments Accelerates as Merchant Searches Jump Up to 223% – PayMongo Study
Searches for accepting digital payments more than tripled in Indonesia and nearly tripled in Vietnam since 2022, with the Philippines and Singapore climbing steadily. As digital commerce matures in Southeast Asia, its sellers are searching for how to get paid, according to a PayMongo’s analysis of five years of Google Trends data across six markets: Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Comparing the first half of 2026 with the same period in 2022, merchant-in