State-run Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)  has unched its electronic-payment portal (EPP) in its bid to digitize collection of port charges to reduce face-to-face transaction and comply with the ‘new normal’ scheme due to the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The EPP, designed and develop by in-house technology and online platform experts, is a major upgrade of the existing system of the PPA, which is slowly being put into place since 2018.

The e-payment portal will house and host all payment systems of ports under the control of the PPA and seamlessly connect it through a number of government and commercial banks joining the program as well as non-bank institutions for a variety of online payment modes such as payment centers, credit cards, and debit cards.

PPA has inked a Memorandum of Agreement with the Land Bank of the Philippines to host the interconnection of the different banks for the e-payment portal. 

Participating banks, mostly from the Bancnet umbrella, include Robinson’s Bank, UnionBank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Asia United Bank, BPI Direct BanKo, CTBC Bank, Citystate Savings Bank, Development Bank of the Philippines, Enterprise Bank, Entrepreneur Bank, Equicom Savings Bank, Luzon Development Bank, MASS SPECC, Malayan Bank, Overseas Filipino Bank, PBCom, Philippine Business Bank, Philippine Veterans Bank, Philtrust Bank, Sterling Bank of Asia, Sun Savings Bank, and Wealth Bank.

PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago said the e-payment portal has been in the pipeline and is continuously being improved but its completion and implementation was fast tracked due to the spread of the Coronavirus Disease pandemic as it limits person-to-person transaction to stop the spread of the disease.

“We are really keen on automating our collection of port charges to reduce face-to-face transaction, thus, boosting the integrity of our process,” Santiago said.

“This scheme now allows payment of transactions anytime and anywhere electronically,” Santiago said. 

“All port users can access these facility using their access credentials as required by the agency,” Santiago added.