The central bank said all eligible financial institutions (FIs) encountering timing mismatches in their transactions via the peso real-time gross settlement (RTGS) payment system can now avail of the fully-automated intraday settlement facility (ISF) to prevent gridlocks.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) fully automated the ISF as of June 27, 2024, by linking the RTGS system or the PhilPaSSplus with the BTr’s Enhanced National Registry of Scripless Securities.
The BSP said the ISF’s full automation ensures a “safe, efficient, and reliable mode of funds transfer in support of financial stability.
“Aside from preventing gridlocks in the PhilPaSSplus from timing mismatches in the settlement of payments between participants, the ISF is designed to support a quick and efficient paperless process,” the BSP added.
While addressing the timing mismatches, the central bank also said that PhilPaSSplus participants can now easily “obtain funds within a few minutes after initiating a repurchase agreement or repo transaction with the BSP.”
“These funds can cover the participants’ queued or expected outgoing payment instructions in the PhilPaSSplus,” it also said. A repurchase agreement or repo is a transaction “in which the borrower temporarily lends a security to the lender for cash with an agreement to buy it back in the future at a pre-determined price.”
Basically, the ISF will make sure that payments smoothly flow through the RTGS payment system and that interdependent settlements are executed in a timely manner to manage systemic risk.
The RTGS or PhilPaSSplus , as defined by the BSP, is a system that provides real-time settlement of payments, transfer instructions, or other obligations individually on a transaction-by-transaction basis.
The PhilPaSSplus is owned and managed by the BSP, through the Payments and Settlements Department.
The BSP said the RTGS payment system is “critical” in maintaining price and financial stability, as well as preserving public interest since this system settles the clearing results of retail payments made by individuals, businesses, and the government using checks, ATMs, InstaPay, and PESONet.