BSP eyes multiple daily PESONet transactions clearing
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is considering to increase the frequency of PESONet transactions clearing several times daily to further strengthen digital payments in the country.
“This means that the payees of PESONet fund transfers will no longer wait for the end-of-the-day crediting of such transfers since crediting will be done multiple times on a banking day,” BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said during the virtual launch of ING Bank’s Pay Account Tuesday.
He said that if the multiple daily clearing of PESONet transactions works smoothly, then the central bank will allow clearing for these transactions on weekends and holidays.
PESONet is one of the two electronic fund transfer services that the central bank is currently enhancing as it bids to increase the share of electronic payments to total transactions by 2023. The other service is InstaPay.
The usage of these two facilities surged after the government placed Luzon under lockdown from mid-March to end-April, which was extended to end-May for the National Capital Region (NCR).
BSP data shows that the value of Instapay transactions as of last August rose by 388.7 percent, while the value of PESONet transactions increased by 100.7 percent.
In terms of volume, InstaPay transactions jumped by 623.8 percent and PESONet by 129.6 percent.
Diokno said wider use of the two e-payment services “evolved from a choice into a necessity.”
“The quantum surge in the volume and value of PESONet and InstaPay transactions means (a) continuous buildup of customer trust in these payment streams,” he said.
Diokno said digital governance standards are thus continuously being improved.
“Balancing payments innovations with safeguarding financial consumers necessitates (the) adoption of payment policies which are in sync with globally-accepted standards. The effective implementation of these standards shall build and sustain public trust in digital payment systems, accelerating usage of e-payment services,” he added. (PNA)