BSP Planning to Launch New e-Payment Streams with PPMI for Digital Ecosystem Expansion

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has announced its plans to launch 3 new e-payment streams over the succeeding two years. In collaboration with the Philippine Payments Management Inc. (PPMI), the initiative is aimed to further expand the digital ecosystem in the Philippines.

The BSP’s new initiatives are part of the central bank’s Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap (DPTR), aiming to invite 70% of the adult Filipino population to the formal banking system by 2023 and to convert half of the total payments into digital transactions instead.

Although the BSP has already announced the introduction of PESONet and InstaPay which falls under the National Retail Payment System, the central bank and PPMI will now be introducing the 3 new e-payment streams called Bills Pay, Request to Pay, and Direct Debit facilities, according to BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno in a webinar by Eastern Communications last Wednesday.

According to the BSP, Bills Pay would be improving currently fragmented bill payment mechanisms for its customers, specifically noting the ability to pay for different utility bills even if their accounts vary in billers or financial firms. Meanwhile, the Request to Pay e-payment stream will allow its payees to collect payments by sending its customers a “request to pay” prompt without the need for additional details. The BSP states the payor will just have to authorize its collection by clicking an “approve” button.

The Direct Debit facility will also give its users a better way to manage their different recurring payments from different billers such as for rentals, insurance, and amortization by officially authorizing the aforementioned billers to directly deduct the required recurring payments from their funds.

The central bank has also recently approved a QR code standard and a digital banking framework aiming to invite more digital financial services to the Philippines.

Source: ABS CBN News