Digital Payment Experience and Commuter Acceptance in Public Transportation: A Comparative Study in Negros Oriental, Philippines

Digital payment technologies are increasingly available for routine transactions, yet their use for public transport fares remains limited in many local settings. This study examined whether prior experience with digital fare payments and current use of digital-wallet applications were associated with commuter acceptance in the Third Congressional District of Negros Oriental, Philippines. A mixed-methods descriptive-correlational study surveyed 300 commuters using a researcher-developed questionnaire and optional open-ended responses. Frequencies, means, standard deviations, and Mann–Whitney U tests were used for the focused comparative analyses. Only 87 respondents (29.0%) reported previously paying transportation fares digitally, although 215 (71.7%) used a digital wallet or online payment application. Commuters with prior digital fare-payment experience reported higher acceptance (M = 3.20) than those without experience (M = 3.03; U = 7,601, p = 0.014). Digital-wallet users also reported higher acceptance (M = 3.13) than nonusers (M = 2.96; U = 7,362, p = 0.008). Prior fare-payment experience was likewise associated with readiness (M = 3.29 versus 3.11; U = 7,633.5, p = 0.016), whereas general wallet use was not significantly associated with readiness (p = 0.205). Findings distinguish general payment familiarity from actual transport-specific experience and suggest the value of guided trial use and accessible payment procedures. Convenience sampling and cross-sectional self-reports limit generalizability and causal inference.