PH Wants Real-Time Cross-Border Payments

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippines is interested in pursuing the proposal of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to create a multilateral solution that connects the real-time payment systems of the countries involved.

BSP Governor Felipe Medalla has mentioned that the country has expressed interest in participating in the plan of the BIS Innovation Hub titled Project Nexus.

Project Nexus is a program that aims to connect payment systems of different countries to each other, establishing cross-border payments in less than one minute.

“Not only do we believe that digitalization will increase efficiency and improve governance, but we also see it as a way to expand financial inclusion,”  mentioned Governor Medalla during the GCash Digital Excellence Awards 2022.

Regarding cross-border payments, Governor Medalla mentioned that the goal is to make payments possible in ASEAN countries by the use of mobile phones.

“We see tremendous benefits from smooth cross-border payments, especially for overseas Filipinos and their dependents,”  mentioned Governor Medalla.

BSP is working on connecting InstaPay with the payment systems of other ASEAN countries such as Malaysia’s DuitNow and Singapore’s PayNow.

During the G20 Summit last November, the BSP signed a deal with Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia to increase collaboration on payment connectivity.

“We began with the test-and-learn approach in the early 2000s. Back then, the financial system was dominated by banks. But GCash, along with other service providers, offered an alternative domestic money transfer scheme in the form of e-money,”  mentioned Medalla.

Source: Philstar