BPI waives money transfer fees for smaller transactions for 2 months

MANILA  -The Ayala Group’s Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) waived online bank transfer fees for smaller transactions for two months starting this week, making it one of the first lenders to do so after this was proposed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The fee waiver applies to InstaPay transfers of P1,000 and below and will run from July 5 through Sept. 30 this year.

Operated by private sector-led Bancnet, the Instapay fee is P25 per transaction.

“We encourage our clients to take advantage of the new BPI app and transfer up to P1,000 via Instapay for free to fully enjoy and maximize the benefits of digital banking,” Fitzgerald Chee, BPI consumer platforms head, said in a statement.

“As the oldest bank in the Philippines, we are committed to staying ahead of the curve to continuously deliver better, real value for our clients,” he added.

BPI is the country’s third-biggest bank with over nine million clients, about 60 percent of whom conduct digital transactions using its mobile app.

Last February, former BSP governor Felipe Medalla said they were looking at the removal of fees for small-value fund transfers to encourage more Filipinos to use digital channels.

Scrapping of fees on ‘small’ online fund transfers eyed

In June, state-run Land Bank of the Philippines cut online money transfer fees from P25 per transaction to a fixed-rate of P15 regardless of the amount.

LandBank cuts online fund transfer fees