Financial institutions extend suspension of InstaPay and PESONet fee collections

Several members of the Philippine Payments Management Inc. have committed to suspend InstaPay and PESONet fees until the end of the year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced Thursday.

According to BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno, at least seven financial institutions part of the PPMI will not collect fees until December 31, 2020.

These include the Asia United Bank, the Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines, Security Bank, Sterling Bank, and Union Bank.

Standard Chartered Bank HSBC has also waived the fees for retail transactions and has lowered corporate rates to P50 from P150 from July 1, 2020.

Meanwhile, other members of the Philippine Payments Management Inc. will extend the waiver of fees until September 30, 2020:

• BDO Unibank Inc.,
• China Banking Corp.,
• China Bank Savings,
• G-Xchange Inc (GXI),
• Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank),
• Philippine National Bank (PNB) - until further notice,
• Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC),
• Robinsons Bank,
• PayMaya,
• Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank).

To recall, the BSP said fees were initially suspended until an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was in place.

"The BSP is actively pushing for the use of digital payments now as part of a safe and convenient payment system," Diokno said in a mobile message.

Data released by the central bank showed that the combined volume of InstaPay and PESONet transactions posted a 260% growth in April versus the same month last year.

In May, InstaPay posted a month-on-month growth of 57% in terms of volume while PESONet recorded a 300% growth. — BM, GMA News