InstaPay transactions jump 44% to P1.54T in H1
Electronic fund transfers coursed through InstaPay continued to surge in the first half of the year as more Filipinos embrace digitalization since the COVID-19 pandemic due to mobility restrictions. Latest data showed the value of InstaPay transactions surged by 44 percent to P1.54 trillion from January to June this year compared to P1.07 trillion last year as volume grew by 29 percent to 245 million from 190 million.
For the second quarter alone, InstaPay reported a 35 percent increase in value to P801 billion from P591 billion in the same quarter last year as volume went up by 21 percent to 126 million from 104 million.
The real-time interbank money transfer service recorded its highest single-day volume of 1.96 million transactions last April 29 and the all-time high volume in a month was booked last December at 43.27 million.
BancNet CEO Elmarie Reyes said that Filipinos continue to embrace digital financial transactions.
“The strict community quarantines last year forced us to go digital but even with the easing of mobility restrictions these past few months, InstaPay continued to grow relentlessly,” Reyes said.
Instapay is an electronic fund transfer service that facilitates the sending of money to an account in another bank or e-wallet in real time.
It is available through the mobile apps or websites of 69 partner banks and non-bank e-money issuers. Mobile app users can send and receive money instantly to and from accounts in another bank or e-wallet in any of three ways: by inputting an account number, through a QR PH code, or by using a mobile number or email address registered with participating banks.
BancNet is strongly supporting the Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap of the BSP that aims to convert 50 percent of total retail transactions to electronic channels and increase the number of Filipino adults with bank accounts to 70 percent by 2023.
Through InstaPay QR (quick response) Ph, the leading electronics payments network doubled the ease and speed of paying for purchases, including groceries, buying instore or online, and restaurant bills by just scanning the QR Ph code.
Initially designed for person-to-person money transfers and payments, InstaPay now also enables consumers to pay for goods and services at over 200,000 partner stores and other business establishments nationwide displaying the QR PH code.
In 2021, BancNet introduced two new use cases, which had been prioritized by the instaPay ACH and designed to make digital payments through InstaPay even more convenient and easier, including the interoperable merchant payment using a QRPh code displayed at the business establishment as well as the interoperable bills payment using a QRPh code.
Since it was launched in April 2018 as part of the National Retail Payments System (NPRS) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), BancNet has processed over 926 million InstaPay transactions.
BancNet is strongly supporting the Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap of the BSP that aims to convert 50 percent of total retail transactions to electronic channels and increase the number of Filipino adults with bank accounts to 70 percent by 2023.
Latest data from the central bank showed the share of digital payments to total retail transactions increased to 30.3 percent in 2021 from 20.1 percent in 2020, while the number of banked Filipino adults went up to 53 percent from 29 percent.