More Philippine banks waive transfer fees following BSP pricing reforms

More Philippine banks are removing fees for InstaPay and PESONet transfers as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) steps up efforts to make digital payments more affordable and encourage wider adoption across the country.

The latest institutions to waive transfer fees include BDO, Metrobank, PSBank, Security Bank and EastWest Bank, expanding a growing list of financial institutions that have responded to the central bank's call to review electronic payment charges.

They join BPI, RCBC, LandBank, and Philippine National Bank (PNB), all of which have either permanently removed fees or introduced free transfer schemes under certain conditions. Meanwhile, digital bank Maya has reduced its InstaPay transfer fee from 15 pesos (US$0.24) to 10 pesos (US$0.16), while GCash has also lowered its bank transfer fee to 10 pesos (US$0.16).

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The wave of fee reductions follows the BSP's latest circular requiring banks, eWallet operators and other payment service providers to ensure that fees for person-to-person electronic payments across institutions are not materially different from transfers made within the same institution.

According to the BSP, financial institutions must also justify their pricing structures based on the actual costs of delivering electronic payment services.

The BSP also said electronic transfer fees should remain lower than over-the-counter transaction fees and that recipients should receive the full amount sent. While the industry has broadly moved towards lower fees, implementation varies across providers.

BPI permanently waived InstaPay and PESONet transfer fees from 1 July across its digital platforms, including the BPI app, BPI Online, VYBE, BanKo and BizKo.

RCBC now offers the first 30 InstaPay transfers each month free through RCBC Pulz for transactions worth at least 100 pesos (US$1.6), after which a 10 pesos (US$0.16) fee applies.

The BSP expects additional financial institutions to follow suit in the coming days.

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