PESONet, InstaPay transactions surge

DIGITAL transactions continued to rise in 2023 based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data, a result said to be due to increased adoption and focus on digitizing payment methods.

The value of transactions conducted via PESONet and InstaPay reached P12.9 trillion in 2023, nearly 30 percent higher than the previous year’s P9.9 trillion.

In volume terms alone, transactions via the two payment systems climbed by 46.8 percent to 929.64 million in the same period from 633.47 million transactions in 2022.

InstaPay transactions reached P5.02 trillion last year, 41.8 percent higher than the P3.54 trillion recorded in 2022. Volume hit 838.56 million, 52.8 percent higher than the year-earlier 548.66 million.

The value of PESONet transactions, meanwhile, climbed by 22.3 percent to P7.84 trillion in 2023 from P6.41 trillion, while volume edged up to 91.08 million, 7.3 percent higher than the 84.81 million seen in 2022.

In December alone, PESONet transactions totaled P758.1 billion via a volume of 7.78 million, while InstaPay hit P549.7 billion with the volume of transactions hitting 97 million.

PESONet and InstaPay are the country’s first automated clearing houses under the National Retail Payment System, whose objective is to modernize the country’s payment systems to benefit consumers, the industry and the economy.

According to latest BSP data, the share of monthly digital payments to total retail payments in the Philippines surged to 42.1 percent in 2022 from 30.3 percent in 2021.

The central bank targeted the transfer of 50 percent of all retail payments to electronic channels in 2023 and wants to boost the number of Filipino adults with bank accounts to 70 percent by the end of this year under its Digital Payments Transformation road map.

Over the weekend, BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan told reporters that the central bank likely achieved the 50-percent target in 2023.

BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan

“Just leave us until July to announce the result of 2023 and will share with you the details behind that projected success,” Tangonan said.

“[W]e focus on merchant payments because merchant payments comprise more than 70 percent of total retail payments transaction volume and P2P (person-to-person transfers) because it’s going to be the persons who will be using the digital payments…,” he explained.

Another goal for this year, Tangonan added, is to finalize an arrangement with the Cooperative Development Authority that will enable cooperatives to extend the benefits of participating in the national payment system to their members.

There are approximately 11 million cooperative members nationwide and enabling them will significantly enhance financial inclusion and productivity, Tangonan said.

“As you know, boosting digital payments is a whole-of-government effort. So, with the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government), we’re working through DG Berna (BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat) for the Paleng-QR Plus rollout,” Tangonan said.

“I’m happy to observe and note that, you know, LGUs (local government units) themselves are taking the initiative to roll it out in their own jurisdictions,” he added.

The Paleng-QR program, which takes its name from the Filipino word for marketplace, is a BSP-DILG initiative that promotes the use of digital payments in markets and local transport hubs.

Tangonan said the BSP was also collaborating with the Department of Transportation (DoTr) for a pilot digital payments program.

In 2022, the DoTr partnered with state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines for a pilot program enabling the use of debit or credit cards for rail payments.

Tangonan said there was also an ongoing Bureau of Internal Revenue invoicing project where the Department of Trade and Industry is actively involved due to the latter’s oversight of merchants.