Banks, mobile payment system waive transaction fees till yearend

MANILA, Philippines — More banks and financial institutions are extending the free online fund transfer transactions until the end of the year to support efforts of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to shift to a cash-light economy and cushion the impact of the health crisis.

This developed as PLDT’s PayMaya and GCash (G-Xchange) of the Ayala-led Globe Telecom agreed to extend free online bank fund transfer transactions for one more month or until the end of October.

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said more members of the Philippine Payments Management Inc. (PPMI) extended the waiver of fees for fund transfer through InstaPay and PESONet amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With digital transactions as the new norm amid the coronavirus pandemic, we thank the members of PPMI for extending their waiver of fees for InstaPay and PESONet. This will go a long way in our road to recovery,” Diokno added.

In an updated list, 31 banks and financial institutions have extended the waiver of fees for InstaPay and PESONet until Dec. 31 and three until Oct. 31.

Major banks that are waiving fees until the end of the year are the  Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. and Philippine Savings Bank of the family of the late taipan George SK Ty; Philippine National Bank of tobacco and airline magnate Lucio Tan, China Bank and China Bank Savings of the family of the retail and banking magnate Henry Sy; Security Bank, Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Aboitiz-led Union Bank, Gotianun-led East WestBank, Robinsons Bank of the family of the late taipan John Gokongwei and San Miguel’s Bank of Commerce.

Others include the government-owned Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines, Asia United Bank, Cebuana Lhuillier Rural Bank, CIMB Bank, Citibank, CTBC Bank Philippines, DCPay, Equicom Savings Bank, HSBC and HSBC Savings Bank, ING Bank, Maybank Philippines, Philippine Bank of Communications, Philippine Business Bank, Philippine Veterans Bank, Rural Bank of Guinobatan, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank and UCPB.

MUFG Bank is waiving fees for InstaPay and PESONet until the end of this month.

Diokno said the COVID-19 pandemic became the unexpected catalyst for the accelerated digital transformation of the banking system with four million digital accounts opened since the lockdown was imposed in mid-March.

As of end-August, InstaPay transactions jumped 312.2 percent to 29.5 million transactions and 206 percent to P141.2 billion in terms of value, while PESONet transactions surged 120 percent to 2.7 million transactions and 70 percent to P252.9 billion since March.

Diokno has committed to transform the country into a cash-lite from cash-heavy economy with digital transactions accounting for half of the total transactions in terms of volume and value by 2023 after launching the National Retail Payments System in December 2015.

Latest data from the Better Than Cash Alliance revealed the volume of e-payments in the country has increased to 10 percent in 2018 from only one percent in 2013, while the share of value jumped to 20 percent from eight percent.

Sen. Sonny Angara earlier appealed to banks and mobile payment systems to suspend the collection of fees for digital transactions while the country is still dealing with the pandemic.

Angara expressed support to the efforts of the BSP to promote the use of digital payments in order to reduce physical/cash transactions while providing relief to consumers during these extraordinary times.

“Right now every family is penny pinching due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic so every peso saved goes a long way. We appeal to our banks and financial institutions to suspend their collection of fees for digital transactions during this very challenging time,” Angara said.

“The whole government is working to help all sectors affected by the pandemic. The waiver of fees in digital transactions is a small thing that can somehow reduce the burdens of our kababayans,” he added.

Angara filed a bill promoting the adoption of digital payments for financial transactions of government and all merchants.

Senate Bill 1764 seeks to institutionalize digital payments in government and the private sector in order to improve efficiency, reduce costs and the possible health hazards posed by physical transactions.

Rep. Bernadette Herrera of party-list Bagong Henerasyon earlier lauded banking institutions that deferred the fund transfer fees for at least until the end of the year to show compassion for many jobless Filipinos.  – Delon Porcalla, Cecille Suerte Felipe