PESONet, InstaPay transfers jump to P2.5 trillion in 2 months

MANILA, Philippines — The value of electronic fund transfers coursed through PESONet and InstaPay hit P2.54 trillion in the first two months of the year, as Filipinos continue to use digital channels for their financial transactions.

The combined value of digital electronic fund transfers jumped by 39.7 percent from P1.83 trillion in the same period last year, latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

In terms of the combined transaction volume, PESONet and InstaPay saw a 74-percent increase as of February, reaching 202 million from 116 million a year ago.

During the period, the value of PESONet transactions grew by 33 percent to P1.53 trillion from P1.15 trillion in the same two-month period in 2023. The volume of PESONet transactions also increased by 8.2 percent to 15.8 million year on year.

For February alone, the value rose by 35.6 percent to P735 billion from P542 billion previously. This, as volume inched up by 8.1 percent to 7.78 million.

On the other hand, the value of InstaPay transactions jumped by 47.4 percent to P1 trillion in the first two months of the year, from P681 billion a year ago. Volume surged by 84 percent to 186 million during the period.

For February, the value of InstaPay transfers climbed by 48.9 percent to P496 billion from P333 billion in the same period in 2023, as volume grew by 85 percent to 93.1 million annually.

PESONet and InstaPay are automated clearing houses, launched under the BSP’s National Retail Payment System (NRPS). The NRPS was launched in December 2015 to promote a safe, efficient, affordable, inclusive and reliable retail payment system.

PESONet enables high-value transactions and may be considered as an electronic alternative to the paper-based check system, while InstaPay is a real-time, low value electronic fund transfer facility for transactions up to P50,000 and is most useful for remittances and e-commerce.

BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan earlier said he is confident that the central bank has reached its goal to have 50 percent of total retail transactions done digitally by end-2023. However, the data will likely be released in July.

The BSP is currently working on the next phase of the country’s digital journey under the 2024-2026 Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap.

Based on the BSP’s 2022 Status of Digital Payments report, the share of online payments in the total volume of retail transactions rose to 42.1 percent in 2022 from 30.3 percent a year earlier.