November 3, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) expects to be ready to support Apple Pay and Google Pay by next year, as global digital wallet providers gear up to launch in the Philippines.
BPI president and CEO Jose Teodoro Limcaoco, who also serves as president of the Bankers Association of the Philippines, said banks have been in talks with both Apple Pay and Google Pay as they prepare for their local rollout.
“We talk to everyone. It would be crazy for a bank not to participate,” Limcaoco said. “(BPI) is not ready yet, but we can do it next year.”
According to Limcaoco, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently cleared a major hurdle for the two payment operators by ruling that they do not have to register as payment service providers, effectively allowing them to proceed with their Philippine launch.
BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan earlier said the central bank has determined that these global digital wallets act only as technology service providers and do not directly handle or store funds, which are key factors in determining whether they should be classified as operators of payment systems.
Both Apple Pay and Google Pay allow users to make financial transactions through near-field communication devices. By linking their debit or credit cards and e-money accounts, users can simply tap their smartphones or smartwatches to pay at merchants that accept contactless payments.
Tangonan had said that the BSP is not imposing any regulatory barrier on the entry of these services in the local market.
Limcaoco said banks now need to ensure their systems can support tokenization, a security feature that enables encrypted card transactions for mobile wallet use.
“What (Apple Pay and Google Pay) have to do is make sure that the banks who want to participate have their card products capable of being tokenized,” he said.