Digital payments continue growth in May amid quarantine

Digital payments continued to grow in May when stricter quarantine measures were still in place, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported Thursday.

Data released by the central bank showed that InstaPay posted a month-on-month growth of 57% in terms of volume, while PESONet recorded a 300% growth.

Launched in April 2018, InstaPay is an electronic fund transfer (EFT) payment system which enables individuals to wire funds across banks in real-time.

Meanwhile, PESONet was launched in 2017, enabling the government, businesses, and individuals to initiate electronic fund transfers and recurring payments in financial institutions supervised by the central bank within the same banking day.

"This shows the critical role of PESONet as an efficient channel not only for payments between business entities but also for the deployment of social aid,"  BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said in a virtual press conference.

Metro Manila, along with several high-risk areas, was on enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from May 1 to 15, followed by the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until May 31.

According to Diokno, there was also a surge in the creation of digital accounts opened during the lockdown, with data showing that 4.1 million accounts were created from March 17 to April 30, 2020.

"With the significant shift to digital financial services, it it critical to be vigilant against fraudsters and cybercriminals who take advantage of this change in consumer behavior," he said. -MDM, GMA News