THE VALUE and volume of fund transfers coursed through InstaPay and PESONet and rose in 2022 compared to a year ago as more Filipinos use digital platforms for their transactions, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

The combined value of transactions done via the BSP’s automated clearing houses InstaPay and PESONet grew by 37.3% to P9.94 trillion in 2022 from the P7.24 trillion in 2021.   

In terms of volume, transactions coursed through InstaPay and PESONet increased by 21% to 633.47 million last year from 523.61 million in 2021.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort attributed the rise in transactions to the increased digitalization of banking services, with the coronavirus pandemic being a reason for the shift.

“The further reopening of the economy into greater normalcy also led to continued growth in electronic fund transfers, consistent with the growth in online businesses over the years,” Mr. Ricafort said in a Viber message. 

Broken down, the value of PESONet transactions surged by 41.2% to P6.41 trillion in 2022 from P4.54 trillion a year prior.

The volume of transactions coursed through the payment gateway stood at 84.812 million, 17.9% higher from the 71.934 million seen in 2021.

Meanwhile, the value of transactions done through InstaPay climbed by 31.1% year on year to P3.54 trillion in 2022 from P2.7 trillion.

The volume of InstaPay transactions went up by 21.5% to 548.66 million from 451.68 million in 2021.

PESONet and InstaPay are automated clearing houses launched in December 2015 under the central bank’s National Retail Payment System.

PESONet caters to high-value transactions and may be considered as an electronic alternative to the paper-based check system.

On the other hand, InstaPay is a real-time, low-value electronic fund transfer facility for transactions up to P50,000 and is most useful for remittances and e-commerce.

The BSP wants 50% of total retail transactions done digitally and to bring at least 70% of Filipino adults into the financial system by this year under its Digital Payment Transformation Roadmap.

The share of digital payments in the total volume of retail transactions in the country rose to 30.3% in 2021 from 20.1% in 2020 as consumers and businesses used more online channels amid mobility restrictions due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the value of payments done online represented 44.1% of total retail transactions in 2021, higher than the 26.8% share a year prior. — Keisha B. Ta-asan

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