Automated clearing houses PESONet and InstaPay’s combined value transactions increased by 43 percent year-on-year to P5.37 trillion for the first seven months of 2022, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Thursday, Sept. 15.
In terms of volume, this rose by 24 percent year-on-year to 348 million transactions as of end-July.
PESONet is operated by the Philippine Clearing House Corporation while BancNet operates InstaPay.
Based on BSP data, PESONet transactions amounted to P3.46 trillion, up 47 percent year-on-year. Its volume also increased by 22 percent year-on-year to 48 million.
“The increase in PESONet transactions was mainly driven by state-run pension fund disbursements facilitated by the Development Bank of the Philippines, which began in September 2020,” noted the BSP. The disbursements, which has a frequency of twice a month, involved 1.5 million transactions worth P6.8 billion.
InstaPay transactions were up by 37 percent year-on-year as of end-July to P1.91 trillion. In terms of volume, this reached 300 million transactions, up by 25 percent year-on-year.
The BSP said the wide use of internet banking and e-money transactions for domestic remittances, e-commerce, bills payment, and other immediate low-value payments contributed to the growth of InstaPay transactions in the first seven months of the year.
PESONet and InstaPay are part of the BSP’s National Retail Payment System (NRPS), which was launched in 2017.
The BSP had intended PESONet to promote a “safe, efficient, affordable, inclusive and reliable retail payment system” as it enables high-value transactions and may be considered as an electronic alternative to the paper-based check system.
InstaPay is a real-time, low value electronic fund transfer facility for transactions up to P50,000 and is most useful for remittances and e-commerce.
In July, the BSP has tagged PESONet and InstaPay as prominently important payment systems or PIPS under the National Payment Systems Act (NPSA) in preparation for the launch of other digital payment schemes such as interoperable bills payments and direct debit.
Based on BSP Memorandum No. M-2022-031, as PIPS, the two payment systems are expected to comply with international standards. PIPS refers to a payment system which may not trigger or transmit systemic risk, but could potentially cause adverse economic impacts or undermine the confidence of the public in the national payment system or in the circulation of money.
Last January, the BSP issued a new e-payment guidelines to ensure stability of the country’s payments system under the NRPS.
As of end-2021, about 30.3 percent of all payment transactions are already in digital form. The BSP wants at least 50 percent of all payment transactions as e-payments by next year.