BSP to launch request-to-pay, exceeds digital transactions target

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will fully launch request-to-pay for loading e-wallets using bank accounts this year as it grows digital payments to 70 percent of all retail payments in the country by 2028.

BSP Director of Payments Policy and Development Department Atty. Bridget Rose Mesina-Romero said Monday that the central bank has been working with the Philippine Payments Management Inc. (PPMI) to integrate systems of more financial institutions.

“We have an ongoing soft launch with select account holders and a few financial institutions. This is to test the systems and processes put in place to enable interoperable cash-ins,” she said during a media conference at the BSP Building in Manila City.

The request-to-pay for loading e-wallets will be facilitated through InstaPay as a payment system for real-time, low-value electronic transactions.

P6.1 trillion transaction value

BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan reported digital transactions accounted for 52.8 percent of all monthly retail payments last year, exceeding the BSP target of 50 percent for the period. The total transaction value reached P6.1 trillion.

In 2022, the share of digital transactions was 42.1 percent.

Tangonan said payments to merchants represented the bulk or 64.9 percent of all digital fund transfers last year.

“Broader adoption of digital payments can boost economic growth and cut informality,” he said.

Citing a report by the Bank for International Settlements, Tangonan said a one percentage point increase in digital payments is linked with a 0.1 percentage point increase in gross domestic product per capita.

The former is also associated with a 0.06 percentage point decline in informal sector employment over a two-year period.

Alternative to transport payments

“We have to digitalize the other use cases where Filipinos still prefer to use cash. We want to have an alternative to transport payments that will solve transport service providers’ lack of change to passengers,” Tangonan said.

Apart from request-to-pay for loading e-wallets, Tangonan said the BSP will see the pilot for request-to-pay for direct debit this year.

This enables bank clients to pay different recurring obligations, such as house and auto loans, without using multiple bank accounts.

In 2025, Tangonan said the BSP will launch the request-to-pay for e-commerce which allows