The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is planning to develop an agent registry system for a more effective monitoring and to streamline the submission of reports by banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs).

In a draft circular recently circulated by the BSP which has a feedback deadline of Dec. 15, the emphasis is on the Agent Registry Report by BSP supervised financial institutions (BSFIs).

This report is aimed at building and updating information on agents and service points in the BSP’s proposed Agent Registry System.  The system “was developed to effectively monitor the depth and reach of the physical access points of BSFIs enabled by the agent operations under the guidelines (of the BSP).”

The BSFIs that will be covered by the draft circular are banks and NBFIs with active cash and e-money agents, as well as money service businesses (MSBs).

These banks and NBFIs are required to submit the agent registry report with detailed information on the agents and service points “in the prescribed form, mode, and manner.”

A bank that serves as an agent or service point for another BSFI will be reported in the agent registry by the principal BSFI, said the BSP.

Once the circular is approved, banks and NBFIs will be required to submit within six months a baseline agent registry report as of June 30, 2024.

The baseline report contains an “exhaustive list with the requisite information of the covered bank’s active agents and service points” as of June 30, 2024.

After, the quarterly agent registry report will be submitted by Dec. 31, 2024. From then on, a quarterly report will be submitted to the BSP.

Based on the circular, an agent is a third-party entity contracted by the principal BSFI to provide services to its clients. An agent is considered active when its contract with the principal BSFI is valid and in force as of the reference reporting period, said the BSP.

Meanwhile, a service point refers to a specific physical touch point where agent services are provided to the clients of the BSFIs as per the agency contract between the agent and principal BSFIs. The central bank said a service point is considered active when its contract with the agent is valid and in force as of the reference reporting period.

The BSP said the quarterly agent registry report will contain not just a list of existing and new agents and service points, but also the blacklisted and delisted agents and service points, as well as any changes in the list.

The circular also required covered MSBs to submit an agent registry report to the BSP at the designated periods.

MSBs are non-bank entities engaged in pawnshops, remittance, money changing and foreign exchange dealing. Covered MSBs in the circular include active remittance subagents.