MANILA — Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor Espenilla raised the possibility of linking instant payment networks within member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to enable cross-border payments, following the launch of the country’s second automated clearing house (ACH) called InstaPay.
“The more interesting prospect, potentially, is to link up the instant payment networks regionally,” Espenilla told reporters in an interview.
Espenilla said Instapay, as it matures, could be connected with its counterparts throughout the ASEAN region for cross-border collaboration. “What you can do in the Philippines, you can do it cross-border, at least in ASEAN. So those are the big possibilities here,” Espenilla said, saying that linking up the countries’ payment infrastructures is “very doable”.
Espenilla noted that a pilot test has already been conducted to connect Singapore’s PayNow system to Thailand’s PromptPay. InstaPay is the second ACH under the central bank’s National Retail Payment System (NRPS) after PESONet, which was launched in November 2017.
This platform reportedly allows consumers a safe, affordable and real-time electronic payment mode for up to PHP50,000 per transaction without limit in a day. Charges may apply to the sender or the recipient of the fund depending on the terms of the financial institution to be tapped.
The first clearing house — the electronic fund transfer (EFT) also called PESO Net, was launched in November 2017. It allows for the transfer of funds from one’s bank account to another. (Filane Mikee Cervantes/PNA)
