Crunchfish Brings Offline Payments to Fishermen in BARMM

How Offline Payments are Empowering Filipinos in Remote Communities

By: Phyra Templeton

Opportunities

Digital Transformation

Digital payments in the Philippines are quickly growing in popularity, yet a glaring gap remains: reliable internet connection in remote islands. 

As a result, millions of Filipinos in rural, coastal, and island communities experience delayed remittances, have limited access to credit, and are left to rely only on cash payments due to unstable internet. 

This digital divide between urban and rural areas is especially noticeable in regions like the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), where 246, 828 fisherfolk face high poverty and financial exclusion. 

Crunchfish and its offline payments technology, along with AltPayNet, see an opportunity to make a real, inclusive impact in the Philippines, starting with fisherfolk and cooperatives in places like Jolo, Sulu.  

What is Crunchfish? 

Crunchfish, a Swedish fintech company, specializes in offline payments or a solution they call Digital Cash. It makes transactions work reliably even when internet connectivity is slow or unavailable. 

Its core innovation lies in offline Layer-2 wallets, an extension to existing payment systems. This allows central banks, merchants, and payment networks to exchange verified payment information without real-time access to central servers. 

Transactions are recorded locally and later synched to the payment network once connectivity returns.

Unlike conventional e-wallets that need constant internet access, Crunchfish’s governed offline infrastructure is designed for low-bandwidth areas. 

Why offline payments matter in the Philippines

The Philippines is a young and rapidly developing country, but much of its population is found in rural communities where economic activity is shaped by agriculture, fisheries, and limited digital infrastructure. 

Despite digital payments accounting for 59.0% of retail payment value in 2024, nearly half of Filipino adults, or 49.80%, are still unbanked. 

Many areas in Visayas and Mindanao are also largely cash-dependent, with financial inclusion in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) especially low.

Approximately 110 of 119 municipalities are unbanked and there are only 43 bank branches in the region. Not only that, but roughly 27.7% of households have access to the internet (with speeds among the slowest nationwide).

For communities that live off the land and sea, unstable connectivity translates to delayed payments and income insecurity. 

Having offline-capable payments directly addresses these issues by allowing transactions to happen anytime, anywhere, regardless of signal strength.

Payment flows for fisherfolk in BARMM

So, how exactly will Crunchfish and AltPayNet solve the financial inclusion gap? By piloting Layer-2 wallets in BARMM and moving value through fishery supply chains. 

Here are some real-world use cases: 

1. Fisherfolk to cooperative: Fishermen are paid on the spot at landing sites via offline QR transactions on Layer‑2 wallets. 
2. Cooperative to ice plants: Co‑ops pay ice plants and cold‑storage operators through offline batch payments (per kilo or per storage day), generating instant digital receipts.
3. Cold storage to logistics: As seafood is consolidated for shipment, co-ops pay ferry operators offline, while logging batch data that sync later. 
4. Logistics to end markets: When products reach the supermarket, buyers can pay co-ops with compatible wallets that also work offline. 
5. Emergency flows: The same offline Layer-2 wallets can be used during typhoons or floods for accepting emergency aid and keeping funds accessible when normal channels aren’t available.

From Jolo to nationwide inclusion 

By embedding offline capability into existing payment schemes and aligning with BSP’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, APN and Crunchfish help reduce the economic drag of cash, especially in remote areas and rural sectors such as fisheries, agriculture, and small‑scale retail. 

In Jolo and the wider Sulu archipelago, successful pilots could show how resilient offline payments can lessen post-harvest losses, balance co-op cash flow, and protect livelihoods during disasters. 

If implemented properly, Crunchfish’s Digital Cash tech provides a blueprint that can be replicated across BARMM and other vulnerable, underserved coastal areas throughout the Philippines.