Transactions via InstaPay, PESONet climb at end-June
THE VALUE of transactions done through InstaPay and PESONet surged by 34.6% as of end-June, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
Central bank data showed that transactions coursed through the two automated clearing houses climbed to P7.98 trillion as of June from P5.93 trillion in the same period a year ago.
In terms of volume, transactions done via InstaPay and PESONet also soared by 66.1% year on year to 660.7 million at end-June from 397.8 million.
Broken down, the value of transactions done through PESONet jumped by 28% to P4.69 trillion from P3.66 trillion in the year-ago period.
The volume of PESONet transactions likewise went up by 7.3% to 48.2 million from 44.9 million.
Meanwhile, the value of InstaPay transactions stood at P3.29 trillion in the January-June period. This was 45.3% higher than the P2.26 trillion recorded a year prior.
The volume of transactions that went through the payment gateway skyrocketed by 73.6% to 612.5 million from 352.9 million in the same period in 2023.
PESONet and InstaPay are automated clearing houses launched in December 2015 under the central bank’s National Retail Payment System framework.
PESONet caters to high-value transactions and may be considered as an electronic alternative to paper-based checks.
Meanwhile, InstaPay is a real-time, low-value electronic fund transfer facility for transactions up to P50,000 and is mostly used for remittances and e-commerce.
Digital payments made up 52.8% of the volume of retail transactions in 2023, latest Bangko BSP data showed, up from the 42.1% share in 2022.
In terms of value, 55.3% of retail transactions last year were done online, also rising from 40.1% the year prior.
The BSP wanted at least 50% of the volume and value of retail transactions done online by end-2023 under its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap.
The BSP wants online payments to make up 60-70% of the country’s total retail transaction volume by 2028 in line with the Philippine Development Plan. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson