PESONet, InstaPay transactions soar

MANILA, Philippines — The value of electronic fund transfers coursed through the PESONet and InstaPay jumped by 36 percent to P955.9 billion in January from P702.6 billion in the same month last year as more Filipinos continue to embrace digitalization.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that the value of PESONet transactions surged by 35.3 percent to P607.9 billion in January from P449.3 billion in the same month last year, while the amount of InstaPay transactions soared by 37.4 percent to P348 billion from P253.3 billion.

In terms of combined transaction volume, PESONet and InstaPay booked a 25.8 percent increase to 58.922 million from 46.83 million.

The volume of PESONet transactions grew by 14.1 percent to 7.37 million from 6.46 million.

Likewise, the volume of InstaPay transactions jumped by 27.7 percent to 51.55 million from 40.37 million amid the wide use of internet banking and e-money transactions for domestic remittances, e-commerce, bills payment and other immediate low-value payments.

PESONet and InstaPay are automated clearing houses, launched under the BSP’s National Retail Payment System (NRPS) that was launched in December 2015 to promote a safe, efficient, affordable, inclusive and reliable retail payment system.

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