PCHC records higher electronic fund transfers following launch of PESONet
PHILIPPINE Clearing House Corp. (PCHC) saw a jump in electronic fund transfers (EFT) in 2018 following the launch of the Philippine EFT System and Operations Network (PESONet).
According to a report posted on its website, PCHC posted a record P805.65 billion in transaction value coursed through PESONet last year.
This was 35.9% higher than the P592.67 billion transferred the previous year via Electronic Peso Clearing System (EPCS), PESONet’s predecessor.
Likewise, the electronic facility made 6.06 million transactions in 2018, 53.8% higher than 3.94 million recorded in 2017.
“The year 2018 marked an important milestone for PESONet, PCHC’s Electronic Fund Transfer solution…launched on November 8, 2017,” the clearing house corporation added.
PESONet is an EFT service that compiles all interbank fund transfer instructions, runs a batch process, and credits the amount to the receiver by the end of the banking day.
PESONet is the first automated clearing house (ACH) under the National Retail Payments System adopted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The framework was put in place to promote a “cash-lite” economy wherein financial transactions veer away from cash and check towards EFTs and digital wallets.
As of end-June, there were 51 participants of PESONet, which includes banks and e-wallet companies.
Aside from PESONet, InstaPay was also launched in April last year as an ACH that processes real-time transfers worth P50,000 or lower across accounts or e-wallets from different banks or service providers. Money is sent and credited to a destination account in a matter of seconds or minutes.
As of the end of the second quarter, there were 28 financial institutions that can send and receive funds using InstaPay, while 14 participants used the ACH to receive money.
The BSP required all banks and other financial firms offering electronic and mobile banking services to get onboard the two ACHs which process online payments. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal