BSP tells banks to waive fees on interbank ATM transaction

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has urged banks to waive fees on ATM transactions as well as interbank fund transfers to ease the burden of Filipinos amid the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 pandemic.

BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier said the central bank has temporarily waived the fees on real time fund transfer system transactions among banks and non-banks under the BSP’s Philippine Payment and Settlement System (PhilPaSS) as part of regulatory relief measures extended to the banking sector.

“With the transaction fees of the PhilPaSS temporarily waived by the BSP during the enhanced community quarantine period, BSP-supervised financial institutions are therefore urged to channel forward such temporary relief measure to the banking public,” Fonacier said in a memorandum.

PhilPaSS is a real time gross settlement (RTGS) system owned and operated by the BSP that processes and settles interbank high value payment transactions of banks through the demand deposit accounts of the bank maintained with the central bank.

The system has 168 participants including big, mid-sized and small banks as well as non-banks with quasi-banking functions and external institutions.

Fonacier said banks through the Philippine Payments Management Inc. (PPMI) have initiated the suspension of fees imposed via the PESONet or InstaPay under the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) launched in December 2015.

She said the same unified action is strongly encouraged to be extended for fees charged by banks and financial institutions for other fund transfer services and interbank ATM transactions.

“In light of the extraordinary circumstance the country is presently facing, there is a need for resilience to rise above the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. A united action in coming up with initiatives and programs to uplift public good becomes paramount,” she said.

The BSP through Memorandum 661 issued in April 2018 approved the lifting of the moratorium on ATM fees. However, the BSP through Memorandum 2019-020 reminded banks to adhere to the principles of reasonable and market-based pricing in setting their ATM fees.

Fees imposed for interbank ATM transactions range from P11 to P15 or an average of P13. Some banks have raised the ATM interbank transaction fee to P18.

Fonacier earlier directed banks and operators of payment systems to augment their existing capabilities of their digital channels as the enhanced community quarantine was further extended to May 15 in the National Capital Region and nearby provinces.