BSP chief vows faster fund transfers

BSP Gov. Benjamin Diokno. INQUIRER file photo

The central bank may soon allow large-scale electronic transactions to be settled through its clearing house during nonbanking days in an effort to make the local payments infrastructure more efficient.

In particular, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Benjamin Diokno said this policy would depend on enhancements currently being prepared for the PESONet framework to make faster cash transfers among banks using this system.

“Very soon, we plan to stretch further the usefulness of PESONet by increasing the clearing frequency of its transactions,” he said during Tuesday’s online launch of ING Pay Account service.

With these improvements, Diokno said payees of PESONet fund transfers would no longer wait for the end-of-day crediting of such transfers since crediting would be done multiple times on a banking day.

“If this PESONet enhancement works smoothly, we will allow clearing during weekends and holidays,” he said.

The central bank chief cited the rapid changes in the country’s payments landscape in recent months that have accelerated since the government-imposed lockdowns to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The electronic payment frameworks used by banks —PESONet and InstaPay— “evolved from a choice into a necessity” during this period, he said. The former is used for large fund transfers that are cleared and credited at the end of a banking day, while the former is used for smaller retail transfers that are executed immediately.

“The quantum surge in the volume and value of PESONet and InstaPay transactions means continuous build up of consumer trust in these payment streams,” Diokno added.

PESONet, in particular, has been instrumental in enabling individuals and businesses to settle taxes, licenses, permits and other payments to hundreds of national agencies and local government units. INQ