E-money transfers expected to surge
More industry players are expected to start using InstaPay — the second automated clearing house under the National Retail Payments System (NRPS) — and subsequently drive up the volume of electronic money (e-money) transfers, a payments management firm said.
In a statement, Philippine Payments Management, Inc. (PPMI) said it was looking at the participation of over 100 Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) as these move toward increased digitalization.
InstaPay, which was launched in April, allows customers to transfer peso funds almost instantly between accounts in participating BSP-supervised banks and non-bank e-money issuers in the Philippines.
Individuals, businesses and government institutions will be able to send and receive funds or make payments in real time of up to P50,000 per transaction without limit.
“There were a total of 20 participants on the day of its launch in April 2018 but only seven institutions have the capacity to send and receive payments via InstaPay,” PPMI President Abraham Co noted.
“We expect this number to grow to over 100 or at least 90 percent of all BSFIs, as each company ramps up their system readiness to participate,” he projected.
While recognizing that different financial institutions have different information technology infrastructures, PPMI noted that “some adopt quickly while others are not as nimble to connect to Bancnet.”
PPMI added that check payments and automated teller machine transactions (ATM) would likely shift to e-money transfers as this was the fastest way to safely move funds.
“Significant volumes should shift to this platform within a year’s time. Today, about 75 percent of checks processed daily are below P50,000. Right here is an immediate market for InstaPay. E-transfers could also reduce cash transactions which can impact ATM usage,” Co said.
Lastly, PPMI expects the NRPS to transform the way BSFIs provide financial services to the Philippine market.
“There are other use cases in the future that we can provide. We can do countless opportunities from domestic remittances and payment to merchants to cash-out services,” Co said.
PPMI, established by the Bankers Association of the Philippines in August last year, was recognized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas earlier this year as the management body for the nascent NRPS.
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