InstaPay transactions hit P5.5 trillion in 7 months

MANILA, Philippines — Real-time electronic fund transfers via InstaPay reached P5.49 trillion in the first seven months of the year despite the further easing of COVID-19 lockdown and mobility restrictions.

BancNet CEO Elmarie Reyes said the steady rise in amount indicates that more people have truly embraced digital payments.

“Digital payments will grow further as new uses for InstaPay are introduced and as we onboard more partners into the network,” Reyes said.

Currently, InstaPay can be used to send money with a maximum amount of P50,000 per transaction instantly to a local bank account or e-wallet using an account number, a QRPh code or a registered local cellphone number, and to pay at local stores and other businesses using a QRPh code.

The service is accessible through the mobile applications or internet banking facilities of InstaPay partner banks and e-wallet providers, making it convenient and easy to send and receive money anytime and anywhere in the country.

From January to July this year, close to 300 million InstaPay transactions were processed or an average of 1.37 million transactions per day.

The value of transactions processed by InstaPay operator BancNet jumped by 28.2 percent to P292.11 billion for the month of July alone, as volume went up by 18.4 percent to nearly 45 million electronic fund transfers.

Last Aug. 15, real-time fund transfer service InstaPay processed an all-time high single-day volume of 2.08 million transactions.

Though initially fueled by necessity due to consumers’ restricted mobility during the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, InstaPay’s growth has continued on an uptrend even when restrictions were relaxed late last year up to the present.

InstaPay has 70 partner banks and non-bank e-money issuers, of which six joined in the first half of 2022. Its newest partners are two digital banks, Tonik and UnionDigital.

On the other hand, interoperable bill payment, request-to-pay, and cross-border payments are among the new InstaPay uses to be introduced.