MANILA, Philippines — The new pricing scheme for fund transfers should not arise from agreements and fixing among supervised financial institutions as cost analysis will be validated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The BSP has released the exposure draft on the establishment of a pricing mechanism for personal and qualifying merchant payment transactions.
Based on the draft, BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs), through its board of directors, should adopt a policy on the imposition of any fees on electronic fund transfers.
The draft, however, has yet to specify the minimum or maximum amount on fund transfer fees.
“BSFls shall adopt a reasonable and fair market-based pricing models mechanism, which does not arise from agreements with other BSFls to fix the price of product or service delivery,” the draft said.
“The pricing mechanism must be adequately supported by an analysis of costs incurred by the BSFI in delivering electronic payment products and services, which may be subject to validation by the BSP,” it said.
According to the BSP, the pricing mechanism should not unduly favor one end-user relative to others, such as when the fees of a product or service are used to fund the cost of delivering another.
As such, fees charged for off-us transactions – transactions from different financial institutions – should not materially differ from the fees charged for on-us transactions or transfers that occur when both payer and payee hold accounts at the same financial institution.
Further, BSFIs shall obtain the BSP’s approval prior to any upward revision of existing fees and charges or any introduction of new ones imposed on electronic payment transactions.
No approval is required for a downward revision unless the proposed revision will result in a reduction in benefits or features of the electronic payment product or service.
The BSP emphasized that the service fees for electronic payments are expected to be lower than the fees collected from transactions made manually or over-the-counter.
BSFIs will be given one year to make the necessary changes in their policies, procedures and systems in order to comply with the requirements.
BSFIs will submit to the BSP a letter request indicating their proposed fees for electronic fund transfer transactions as well as the costs currently incurred in delivering this product or service.
The BSP has been pushing for zero or lower fees on fund transfers since 2023, as part of its broader push to accelerate digital payments adoption and promote financial inclusion.
The draft issuance is now open for public comments before the BSP finalizes the regulation.
Data showed that the value of electronic fund transfers coursed through PESONet and InstaPay jumped by almost 40 percent to P5.29 trillion as of end-March.
The BSP wants online payments to make up as much as 70 percent of the country’s total retail transaction volume by 2028, in line with the Philippine Development Plan.
