Financial firms sign up for PESONet
BANKS and e-money issuers have established a clearing house for digital payments, which will allow electronic fund transfers (EFT) across different banks and electronic wallet providers for same-day credit.
A group of 33 lenders and financial technology service providers have signed up for the Philippine EFT System and Operations Network ( PESONet), which will serve as an industryled clearing house that will conduct daily batch processing for online fund transfer orders from one account to another.
The payment orders will be charged a “minimal” fee to be paid by the sender, with the receiver expected to get the transferred amount in full.
BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. said the new clearing house is expected to drive increased e-commerce activity, as it makes payments to individuals, merchants, and to the government more convenient through account-to-account transactions.
“Greater efficiencies in electronic channels will also bring
about an accelerated velocity of payments. This will increase economic activity,” Mr. Espenilla said during the launch event held at the BSP headquarters in Manila.
“When payment beneficiaries are able to quickly obtain the liquidity that they need, they are able to pursue productive activities at a faster rate.”
The central bank chief said he is particularly eyeing government payments to shift to the digital platform through the payout of worker salaries, tax collections, and even loan proceeds from state agencies.
The BSP targets to lift the share of digital payments to 20% of total transactions by 2020, coming from a measly 1% recorded in 2013. The Monetary Board has officially adopted the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) framework under Circular 980 issued on Monday, which recognizes the use of automated clearing houses to facilitate and oversee digital payments in the Philippines.
All financial entities must continue to comply with risk management protocols as they carry out increased electronic transactions, as well as report to the Anti-Money Laundering Council, among others.
Last month, the Bankers Association of the Philippines announced the creation of the Philippine Payments Management, Inc., which is an industry- led body that will oversee the PESONet that will build on the existing Philippine Clearing House Corp.
The digital clearing house is eventually seen to replace paperbased checks, which currently takes one business day to complete a fund transfer.
Adopting the NRPS is likewise seen to broaden access to financial services, as the central bank eyes to tap the high penetration rate of mobile phones among Filipinos as their entry point to formal banking channels.
The central bank will not dictate a certain rate for these fund transfers, with the financial players expected to come up with “competitive” fees to attract more clients to pay online.
John Cary L. Ong, head of the PESONet initiative and senior vice-president at UnionBank of the Philippines, said he personally expects transaction charges to match usual interbank withdrawal fees through automated teller machines, which usually ranges from P10-P15.
“The idea is to make it so small that it’s not worth the time and effort to physically go over the counter, queue up somewhere, or open another bank account,” Mr. Ong told reporters in a press briefing.
Mr. Ong said the PESONet will start with one batch processing per day, and will increase the frequency of these runs as volumes pick up.
Making interbank or interwallet transfers will have to be made available by the financial firms to their clients through their respective online, mobile, and over-the-counter facilities.