BIZ BUZZ: BSP’s ‘PalengQR’ reaches for the stars

One of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) pet projects to push digital payments deeper into everyday life is about to get a connectivity upgrade—courtesy of space-age tech.

BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat told reporters the central bank was preparing to seal a deal with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to support the “PalengQR” project with Starlink satellite internet.

The move aims to fix persistent connectivity gaps that have slowed the rollout of PalengQR, a flagship initiative designed to bring cashless payments to public markets and small vendors across the archipelago.

If the plan takes off, even the country’s most remote palengkes could soon be just a QR scan away from going digital—proving that financial inclusion may finally be reaching for the stars.