The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is preparing to pilot a stablecoin-based settlement system with Meridian to speed up and lower the cost of cross-border payments to the Philippines, as reported by ABS-CBN News.

The bank and the global digital clearinghouse is trying to build the payment rail, initially targeting payroll credits for freelancers, virtual assistants, and other workers in the country’s informal economy who receive income from abroad.

Stablecoins are digital tokens typically pegged to a fiat currency such as the US dollar.

In cross-border transactions, banks can use them as a settlement instrument before converting funds into pesos and crediting a recipient’s account.

This potentially cuts out intermediary institutions that add fees and delay traditional transfers.

“Filipinos move billions of pesos every year, and it is our responsibility to make sure that their money arrives faster, cheaper and just as securely as it does today,” said TG Limcaoco, BPI’s president and CEO.

He said exploring stablecoin rails is a natural extension of the bank’s digitalisation strategy.

“BPI is showing what leadership looks like: taking a technology the world is adopting and making it work inside the banking system, safely, for the benefit of every client,” said Meridian President and CEO Will Haering.

The pilot will initially cover payroll credits for informal-economy workers, overseas Filipino workers, and exporters, before rolling out more broadly to all BPI clients ahead of the ASEAN 49 Summit in November.

BPI said the initiative will be coordinated closely with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and operate within existing regulatory frameworks.

Part of a Wider Pattern

BPI joins a small but growing list of Philippine financial institutions exploring stablecoin-based settlement for cross-border payments.

In July, Cebuana Lhuillier partnered with Fireblocks to build a similar Solana-based payment rail for its remittance business, as digital asset infrastructure draws increasing interest from banks and money transfer operators serving the country’s large overseas worker population.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Philippines based on an image by the Bank of the Philippine Islands via its website.