E-payment license rules streamlined
Credit to Author: MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO, TMT| Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2019 16:25:05 +0000
Licensing rules for Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) that intend to offer electronic payment and financial services (EPFS) have been streamlined in a bid to promote digital innovations.
In a statement on Friday, the BSP announced that revised guidelines had been approved by its policymaking Monetary Board “in line with the … reform agenda of promoting digital innovations and increasing the availability of safer and more efficient channels for delivering banking, payment, remittance, investment, and other financial services.”
BSFIs planning to launch basic services — those that enable clients to access information concerning their deposits, loans and other accounts or receive funds via electronic means — only have to notify the central bank 30 days before the offerings are implemented.
EFPS that require prior BSP approval, meanwhile, are those that allow clients to transfer funds from one account to another and initiate other financial transactions.
BSFIs were also required to make their EPFS with funds transfer functionality interoperable via automated clearing houses such as InstaPay and PESONet that are part of the National Retail Payments System
The Bangko Sentral earlier mandated BSFIs offering electronic payments to make NRPS clearing houses available on their e-channels by the end of November last year.
“With its streamlined licensing policy on EPFS coupled with more vigorous drive for interoperability among the BSFIs, the Bangko Sentral looks forward to a highly efficient funds flow in the economy, supporting productive activities that fuel economic growth,” the central bank said.
It explained that the prescribed approval process typically would require only three steps:
• BSFIs should self-assess compliance;
• BSFIs should then submit a certification of compliance and request a confirmation of eligibility; and
• also submit certain documentary requirements to eventually obtain an EPFS license.
To ensure a smooth transition towards the implementation of the amended EPFS licensing policy, BSFIs with existing EPFS licenses will have to re-register all previously-licensed and operational EPFS as of March 31, 2019 and those already licensed but yet to be launched until September 30, 2019.
BSFIs were also told to submit periodic prudential reports to strengthen regulatory surveillance and supervisory mechanisms.
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