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The value of electronic fund transfers through the PESONet and InstaPay platforms increased by 37 percent to P5.22 trillion in the first four months of the year, reflecting the growing use of digital channels for financial transactions in the Philippines.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the combined volume of electronic fund transfers surged by nearly 70 percent to 420.4 million from January to April, compared to last year’s 247.8 million.
PESONet transactions during this period grew by 32 percent to P3.12 trillion, with the volume rising by 8.5 percent to 31.9 million. Meanwhile, InstaPay transactions jumped by 45 percent to P2.1 trillion, as the volume surged by 78 percent to 388.5 million.
PESONet and InstaPay, automated clearing houses launched in December 2015 under the BSP’s National Retail Payment System (NRPS), aim to promote a safe, efficient, affordable, inclusive, and reliable retail payment system.
PESONet facilitates high-value transactions and serves as an electronic alternative to the paper-based cheque system, while InstaPay is a real-time, low-value electronic fund transfer facility useful for remittances and e-commerce.
In the previous year, the combined value of PESONet and InstaPay transactions increased by 29 percent to P12.86 trillion from P9.94 trillion in 2022, with volume rising by 47 percent to 929.64 million from 633.47 million.
BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan expressed confidence that the central bank had achieved its goal of having 50 percent of total retail transactions conducted digitally by the end of 2023, though the official data is expected to be released in July.
The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst for this shift, with the share of online payments in the total volume of retail transactions rising to 42 percent in 2022 from 30 percent in 2021, according to the BSP’s 2022 Status of Digital Payments report.
Before the launch of the NRPS, the share of electronic payments in total retail transactions was only one percent in 2013.
Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik