Business registrations will be made easier and more convenient with the forthcoming update to the electronic payment tool of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which will be expanded to accept registration fee payments to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as well.

In a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the SEC said its Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Company (eSPARC) launched in April last year presently allows online payment of SEC fees. This online payment feature will further be enhanced to facilitate one-time payment of both SEC and BIR registration fees by the third quarter.

SEC Commissioner Javey Paul Francisco said in his report during a recent Department of Finance (DOF) Executive Committee (Execom) meeting that from January 1 to May 15 of this year, the Commission has processed 25,685 online applications for business registrations.

This brings the total number of applications processed through eSPARC to 69,350 since the digital tool was first launched in the second quarter of 2021.

Dominguez earlier directed the SEC and other DOF-attached agencies to fast-track their respective digitalization programs to ensure the continued delivery of services to the public during the pandemic and to prepare them for the transition to the new economy.

Earlier, SEC Chairman Emilio Aquino said the fastest time recorded for processing an eSPARC application after the payment of the registration fee has been made was 1 minute, 14 seconds, while the longest time was 2 hours and 37 minutes.

The One-day Submission and E-registration of Companies (OneSEC) is a subsystem of eSPARC.

As most of the company information is pre-filed under OneSEC, the application of companies applying for registrations requires minimal encoding of data online.

In March last year, the SEC also launched its Electronic System for Payments to SEC (eSPAYSEC) to facilitate the payment of registration charges, penalties, and other transaction fees with the SEC online using debit and credit cards, digital wallets, and other cashless payment options.

The SEC also launched the Electronic Filing and Submission System (eFAST) that allows companies to submit the Audited Financial Statement (AFS), General Information Sheet (GIS), Sworn Statement for Foundations (SSF), General Form for Financial Statements (GFFS), Special Form for Financial Statement (SFFS), and other reportorial requirements. DOF