BSP okays payment system oversight rules

THE CENTRAL BANK will exercise cooperative oversight with other regulators for activities and interlinkages between payment systems and other financial market infrastructures.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said in a statement on Wednesday that the Payment System Oversight Framework was approved by the Monetary Board on June 5, which streamlines the BSP’s regulatory approach in the oversight of payment systems in the country.

The framework is in line with the provisions of the Republic Act No. 11127 or the National Payment Systems Act (NPSA).

The BSP said the framework mandates the BSP to assign “systems which are systematically and prominently important.”

“Payment systems which pose or have the potential to pose systemic risk that could threaten the stability of the national payment system (NPS) are considered systemically important,” the central bank said.

Meanwhile, those which will be classified as “prominently important” are seen with “no systemic implication but may have major economic impact or could undermine the confidence of the public in the NPS or in the circulation of money in general.”

The BSP has the authority to accredit and revoke the accreditation of a Payment System Management Body (PSMB).

“Following this provision, the Monetary Board has also approved the accreditation of the Philippine Payments Management, Inc. (PPMI) as a PSMB. This accreditation deepens the foundation of the self-regulatory function of the PPMI over its members,” it said.

The PPMI was established by the Bankers Association of the Philippines to support the BSP in its monitoring and facilitation of the clearing of digital payments in line with the National Retail Payment System framework.