Online merchants are encouraged to apply for a digital badge that will help boost their credibility as businesses.

Lawyer Marcus Valdez II, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) assistant secretary for the e-commerce bureau, said during the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon program on Friday that registration with the E-Commerce Philippines Trustmark is currently voluntary.

The establishment of the E-Commerce Philippines Trustmark is mandated under Republic Act 11967, otherwise known as the Internet Transactions Act of 2023.

Valdez said the badge assures online shoppers that the businesses’ operations are legitimate, which, in turn, assures income for businesses.

He said online merchants need to submit the requirements, such as business registration with the DTI and the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and import commodity clearance.

He said merchants can check trustmark.dti.gov.ph. for the other requirements and the registration process.

For now, the process can only be done through the website, but Valdez said the plan is to have a mobile application that can be linked to the eGov PH, the government’s mobile application that simplifies transactions between the government and the public.

“We encourage our merchants to cooperate with the regulators because this is for the improvement of our e-commerce industry,” Valdez said.