This is according to the latest study from a Filipino tech startup.
According to Packworks, which has an app ecosystem for sari-sari stores that surveyed more than 2,000 owners within its nationwide network of over 300,000 stores from January to August 2025, there is a significant increase in usage of electronic payment platforms in the Philippines.
With the internal transaction records of these stores being marked as the starting point of the direct survey, the tech startup reported that half of the store owners saw a 75% increase in e-wallet usage in their store operations between January and August,
Meanwhile, the remaining respondents also saw substantial growth, with 20% having experienced a 100% increase in usage, another 20% saw a 50% increase, and 10% reported a 10% rise.
Store owners largely attributed this growing adoption to increased consumer demand, as their customers are also turning to e-wallets to buy goods, access funds, and settle bills at their local stores.
“Maraming nang nagpapa-cash-in at cash-out at bumibili gamit ang mga e-wallet,” said Marijane Rea, a sari-sari store owner from Laguna.
She added, “Dahil dumarami, gusto namin masabayan ang pangangailangan nila. Nakakatulong din naman ito sa amin para magkaroon kami ng dagdag kita.”
Store owners are using e-wallets for a variety of business operations. About 40% are using the platforms for in-store payments, 30% for bill payments, and the remaining 30% for cash-in and cash-out transactions.
Moreover, this digital shift is quickly becoming a critical source of revenue, with around 13% of store owners say their e-wallet earnings equal their revenue from physical goods.
Among the rest of the respondents, e-wallets still contribute significantly: 66% say that about 20% of their revenues come from e-wallet use, and the remaining 21% say their e-wallet earnings account for 10% of their total revenue.
“Bukod sa kita namin sa tindahan, nagkaroon kami ng dagdag kita sa paggamit sa mga e-wallet kasi meron kaming tubo na PHP 10 hanggang PHP 20 sa pag-cash-in at cash-out, o di kaya tuwing nagbabayad ng kuryente, tubig, o internet ang mga customer,” said Rachel Miguel, a store owner from Bacolod.
To increase their transaction capacity and meet surging customer demand, the same report noted that sari-sari stores are strategically using up to five e-wallet accounts.
With each account having a monthly limit of PHP100,000 to PHP500,000, the combined monthly transaction capacity is up to PHP3.5 million.
This trend also supports the 30% of store owners’ interest in upgrading their e-wallets to business accounts to maintain a higher monthly limit of PHP1 million.
In addition, data obtained from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in 2024 indicated that approximately 57% of total retail transactions were cashless—highlighting the increasing use of digital payments for everyday purchases and financial transactions.
Packworks Chief Platform Officer Hubert Yap noted that sari-sari stores are rapidly embracing digital tools such as e-wallets to diversify their services and grow their businesses.
“The surge in e-wallet use proves that sari-sari stores are rapidly evolving into vital digital hubs for their communities,” said Yap.
He continued, “Aside from simply selling ‘tingi’ physical items, they are now diversifying their product range, offering high-margin, value-added financial services and integrating digital tools such as our app to fundamentally improve their operations and function as near-frictionless nano-banks for the neighborhoods they serve. These findings show that sari-sari stores have been at the forefront leading this digital transformation at the grassroots level.”
Yap also highlighted that these figures show the pressing need to educate micro-entrepreneurs with the right financial technology kmowhow.
“And there’s an urgent need to support these micro-entrepreneurs with the right fintech to ensure they can fully capitalize on this opportunity, as they often say in sari-stores, a peso saved is a peso earned!”
Packworks was born in 2018 out of a passion project by founders Bing Tan, Ibba Bernardo, and Hubert Yap as a solution for multinational companies with only a handful of sari-sari store partners.
Eventually, Packworks expanded as a B2B platform that enables growth and success throughout all stakeholders in the supply chain ecosystem, from small sari-sari store owners to wholesalers, distributors, and renowned FMCG companies and brands