The Philippines achieved its 2025 digital payments goal, the central bank revealed recently, reflecting a shift toward faster, more convenient electronic payments for Filipinos.
In more recent news, the central bank said that electronic transfer systems surged past PHP 19 trillion ($307 billion) in the first seven months of 2026, following a series of interbank fee waivers.
Philippines digital payments surge following interbank fees waive
According to the latest data from the Philippines central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the combined transfer values of PESONet and InstaPay—the country’s electronic fund transfer services managed by the BSP’s National Retail Payment System—grew 45% to PHP 19.16 trillion ($310 billion) from January to July 2026, compared to the PHP 13.23 trillion ($214 billion) recorded during the same period in 2025.
Total combined transfer volume doubled over the period, reaching 4.98 billion transactions from 1.95 billion last year, local news outlet Manila Bulletin reported.
The bank said that data from PESONet alone increased by PHP 2.35 trillion ($38 billion), or 32.2%, to PHP 9.65 trillion ($156 billion) during the 7-month period, compared with PHP 7.30 trillion ($118 billion) in 2025. Transaction volume also rose 15% year-on-year, reaching 76.4 million from 66.2 million.
InstaPay also posted strong growth, with transaction value climbing by 60% to PHP 9.51 trillion ($154 billion) from PHP 5.93 trillion ($96 billion) a year earlier, up to PHP 3.58 trillion ($57 billion) year-on-year from PHP 5.93 trillion ($96 billion) in 2025. As for volume, transfers processed through the payment provider surged to 4.9 billion as of July 2026, up from 1.88 billion in 2025.
In July alone, fund transfers via PESONet and InstaPay totaled PHP 3.07 trillion ($49 billion), a 46% increase from the PHP 2.1 trillion ($34 billion) recorded in the same month last year. The combined transaction volume for the said month also more than doubled, from 373.3 million to 773.2 million.
This follows the shift to a more cash-lite society. BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said the BSP will continue to work with the finance industry and government partners to further expand digital payments.
Just recently, the central bank, together with Malacañang—the official residence and the primary workplace of the country’s president—urged banks in the country to lower or waive their interbank fees.
Under the BSP Circular No. 1238, which took effect on July 4, banks and other BSP-supervised financial institutions must keep fees for person-to-person transfers between banks or e-wallets close to the fees charged for transfers within the same institution. Since transfers within the same digital bank or wallet are usually free, the BSP said any fee for interbank or interwallet transfers should primarily reflect the cost charged by the network switch operator.
The Philippines achieves its digital payment target: Central Bank
Last week, the BSP said that the share of digital payments in the nation’s total retail payments increased to 64.7% last year, surpassing the 60% to 70% target in the Philippine Development Plan for 2023 – 2028, the Philippine News Agency said.
“The BSP continues to work closely with industry and government partners to expand digital payments to benefit more Filipinos and the economy as a whole,” BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said.
“A lot of the growth is due to our insistence on interoperability, ensuring that a growing number of businesses and service providers are on one system. That brings in more users, which makes the network more valuable for everyone in it, including consumers, businesses, banks, e-wallets, and other platforms.”
The BSP’s 2025 Report on the Status of Digital Payments in the country showed that the growth of digital payments was supported by a 69.4% increase in digital payment accounts, and another 36.3% rise in merchants or businesses that accept digital payments. In 2024, the share of digital payments of the total retail payments was only 57.4%.
Moreover, QR Ph transactions—the official QR Code standard in the Philippines—exceeded debit and credit card transactions for the first time in 2025, with a total of 2.47 billion QR Ph transactions worth PHP 1.16 trillion ($18 billion) processed. The central bank said this is due to Filipinos’ growing preference for interoperable and account-based payments.
The BSP revealed that PESONet transactions have surpassed check payments and noted that the increase in digital payments is expected to continue due to new regulations that make digital payments more accessible and affordable.
Watch: Philippines Moves to Blockchain e-Government
Be the first to comment