THE PUSH for electronic payments is expected to accelerate this year after industry players formalized arrangements with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), while work is under way for a new clearing house for real-time fund transfers.

BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. said that banks and financial technology (fintech) players are working to roll out the InstaPay platform within the second quarter, which would be dedicated to processing real-time and small-value transactions across banks and e-money wallets.

The central bank targeted a first-quarter rollout for InstaPay, but this had to be pushed back amid technical issues that needed to be smoothed out for interbank transactions.

“We’re putting out a lot of our moral suasion and our prestige to get people who don’t normally want to talk each other because they are mortal rivals in the market,” Mr. Espenilla told reporters in a recent ambush interview.

“You (players) can cooperate in the clearing and settlement, but in the products space you can do your own thing — that’s the dialogue we are having.”

The InstaPay will clear electronic fund transfers (EFT) across banks and e-wallets in real time, focusing on low-value transactions worth below P50,000.

This would be the second automated clearing house after the Philippine EFT System and Operations Network (PESONet) was rolled out in November, which will process fund transfers in batches.

Meanwhile, the central bank announced that the BSP has entered into an agreement with the Philippine Payments Management, Inc. (PPMI) to serve as the industry-led body to facilitate clearing operations for digital payments.

The central bank signed a deal last Friday to recognize PPMI as the payment system management body for automated clearing houses, while the BSP will serve as the “primary overseer” of the platforms.

“The BSP and PPMI agreed to have a shared responsibility in monitoring new or emerging trends in the retail payment industry and to notify each other of any relevant information that would warrant appropriate action from either party,” the central bank said in a statement sent yesterday.

The deal also requires all financial firms to undertake “direct clearing activities” via the automated clearing houses under the PPMI’s watch, which will facilitate interbank payments and fund transfers.

All these efforts fall under the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) led by the central bank, with the goal of shifting cash-heavy transactions on to digital avenues.

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. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

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