Digital Payment Trends and Institutional Financial Implications: Global Evidence and a Case Study of a Philippine Higher Education Institution

Abstract

This study looks at global and national trends in digital payment adoption and explores what these mean for institutions, using a case study from a higher education institution in Northern Mindanao, Philippines. Most research so far has focused on consumer behavior, fintech innovation, or financial inclusion, but few have examined how digital payment reforms affect financial practices within institutions, especially in higher education and developing countries. This study fills that gap by connecting broader digital payment trends to how institutions respond, using publicly available data. The study uses a descriptive, document-based research design along with a case study of one institution. Data come from international datasets, national policy reports, and public documents from 2020 to 2024. Payment Choice Theory is the main framework to explain changes in payment adoption based on convenience, cost, and access. The Financial Inclusion Framework and Institutional Theory help place these changes in the context of policy and how organizations adapt. The findings show that digital payment use has steadily increased worldwide and in the Philippines since 2020. By 2024, most retail payments are digital. At the university studied, several digital payment options were adopted to match national systems, showing gradual changes in operations rather than major structural shifts. The study concludes that national digital payment reforms influence how institutions manage their finances, but the effects depend on local policies, available infrastructure, and organizational habits. By showing how to use public data to study these responses, this research adds new evidence to a less-studied area and provides a method that others can use to study institutional finance in higher education in developing countries.