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Philippines: E-payment transactions up in December
ELECTRONIC payment transactions coursed through the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ clearing house recorded a double-digit growth in December last year.
Data provided by BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan on Monday showed that transactions made through InstaPay went up to P289 billion from P176.5 billion in 2020.
From 30.6 million transactions last December 2020, InstaPay volume grew by 47 percent and reached 45 million transactions by the end of 2021.
InstaPay enables an account holder to transfer money up to P50,000 a day, immediately credited to a recipient account in any participating financial institution. InstaPay is designed for urgent and small-value transactions.
PESONet transactions, meanwhile, amounted to P502.9 billion, up by 37 percent from the P366 billion in 2020.
In volume, PESONet transactions rose 26 percent from 5.5 million transactions to 7 million transactions.
Launched in November 2017, PESONet is the first automated clearing house under the National Retail Payment System. It can be considered as an electronic alternative to paper-based check payments.
Tangonan said the increase in digital payments was “catalyzed by social mobility restrictions due to the continuing threat of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.”
The BSP has been pushing for e-payments adoption in the country.
As part of this initiative, the BSP and the Philippine Payments Management Inc. on Monday launched the Multiple Batch Settlement (MBS) facility of the PESONet electronic fund transfer service.
The MBS increases PESONet’s daily batch settlement to two cycles in a banking day. PESONet used to have only one batch settlement of fund transfers at the end of the banking day.
“This new feature enhances the user experience as it allows faster crediting of funds to the recipient’s account. PESONet MBS allows for better risk management for participating banks and electronic money issuers as settlement of transactions may be divided within two cycles in a banking day,” said BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno.
The morning and end of day settlement cycles of PESONet fund transfers seek to address the demand of the business community for shorter clearing intervals.
“With PESONet MBS, businesses can manage their cash flows better. For example, a business can ensure timely crediting of payroll funds since PESONet MBS allows the transfer of funds and the receipt of the same by employees within the same banking day,” said Diokno.
“Since funds are made available earlier, PESONet MBS can cut production cycle time that boosts economic productivity,” he added.
Diokno said PESONet’s enhanced features will also improve person-to-government payments made through EGov Pay, an online facility that allows citizens to pay taxes and other fees due to government institutions, including permits and fees.
“As more Filipinos embrace digital payments, we are optimistic that PESONet MBS would bring us closer to our strategic objectives under the BSP’s Digital Transformation Roadmap: namely, first, digitalizing 50 percent of retail payments volume and second, onboarding 70 percent of adult Filipinos to the formal financial system by 2023,” he said.
Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/01/25/business/top-business/e-payment-transactions-up-in-december/1830481