BSP Calls for Investments in IT Infrastructure to Streamline Digital Payments

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) wants more public investment to modernize and improve the Philippines’ information technology (IT) infrastructure as there are more plans to streamline and increase the accessibility of digital payment schemes and online banking.

According to the new BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla, “In an island economy with nearly everyone having a cellphone, public investment in satellite communications may enable access to financial services almost universal,”

It was Governor Medalla who also said that to “maximize the potential of and speed up access to e-money and phone-based banking services” the government can work with the private sector.

He also highlighted that the inclusion of the private sector and expanding public investment in IT structures will speed up the implementation of multilateral cross-border payments connectivity.

As part of the Indonesia Digital Economy and Finance Festival 2022’s session on “Faster, Cheaper, More Transparent and More Inclusive Cross-Border Payment to Promote Regional Economic Recovery”, central bank governors shared their future foals for cross-border payments in the ASEAN region.

Other topics also discussed were opportunities for collaboration among market actors and authorities, key areas of establishing interoperability, and opportunities for ASEAN.

Currently, the BSP is having discussions with the Bank Negara Malaysia and the Monetary Authority of Singapore for cross-border linkages between Instapay of the Philippines, PayNow of Singapore, and DuitNow of Malaysia.

On the topic of interoperability of cross-border payments, Governor Medalla mentions that central banks should tackle not only the technical issues of different payment systems but also the non-technical side such as regulatory, oversight, and supervisory frameworks, anti-money laundering, and data privacy.

Source: Manila Bulletin