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Philippines: BSP expands e-payment platform
MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is further expanding the country’s digital payment platforms to speed up the transition to a cash-lite and eventually to a coinless and cashless society.
BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said various payment digitalization initiatives would be implemented successively starting April as the central bank aims to transform half of total retail transactions to digital channels by 2023.
“As we move toward a cashless and coinless society, the BSP remains committed to ensuring that no Filipino is left behind in its pursuit of inclusive economic growth,” Diokno told reporters during his weekly virtual press briefing.
He said the BSP is on track for the planned pilot run of QR (quick response) person-to-merchant in April followed by a full launch in July to augment the person-to-person payment.
“This initiative will benefit not only large businesses, but also the small unbanked vendors such as tricycle drivers, market vendors, and sari-sari store owners,” he said.
The QR Ph is being used as a viable alternative to coins as it caters to low value, high volume transactions, such as payments to merchants and person-to-person payments. It empowers small economic actors to take part in the digital payment ecosystem.
The initiative, Diokno said, would immediately be followed by the bills payment facility that would allow customers to pay their electricity, water, and telephone bills even if the accounts of the customer and the biller are maintained in different financial institutions.
Likewise, he said the BSP is also set to roll out the request to pay facility that would allow payees to initiate collections by simply sending a request to pay to the payor.
Diokno said the pandemic has served as a catalyst in the use of digital payments as PESONet and InstaPay transactions reached record highs last year amid physical distancing and quarantine protocols.
The volume of PESONet transfers surged by 376 percent to 15.3 million in terms of volume and jumped by 188 percent to P951.6 billion in terms of value, while InstaPay transactions rose by a dramatic 459 percent to 86.7 million and 340 percent in terms of value to P463.4 billion.
Bridget Rose Mesina-Romero, acting deputy director of the BSP’s Payment System Oversight Department, said the multiple batch settlement of PESONet transactions would be implemented in the early part of the second quarter.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2021/02/05/2075376/bsp-expands-e-payment-platform