Amid growing e-commerce, BSP issues rules for payment operators

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued rules for payment operators to ensure digital business transactions with merchants are safe.

Under the Regulatory Framework for Merchant Payment Acceptance Activities (MPAA), the BSP said operators of payment systems (OPS) providing payment technologies to merchants, process transaction data of consumers, and facilitate payment settlements for merchants must register with and acquire a license from the central bank.

“With merchant payments accounting for 64.9 percent of digital transactions in 2023, the framework aims to ensure that OPS engaged in MPAA adopt governance structures and measures to effectively manage risks attendant to their business model,” BSP said in a statement released Tuesday.

Risks

“These include risks related to settlement, operations, information technology, anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, counter-proliferation financing of weapons of mass destruction and end-user protection,” it added.

The framework also requires OPS to submit reports on related risks.

The BSP said the framework was issued through Circular No. 1198 last 19 July 2024.

BSP target exceeded

Last month, 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.

The BSP aims to increase digital payments to 70 percent of all retail payments in the country by 2028.