BSP Reviews Interbank Transfer Fee Compliance, Ensures Uniform Rules for Banks and E-wallets

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday said it is now reviewing compliance reports submitted by financial institutions regarding the circular on interbank transfer fees, emphasizing that banks and e-wallets alike are expected to comply with the same policy framework. According to BSP deputy governor Mamerto Tangonan, financial institutions submitted their compliance reports last Wednesday, July 15, and these are being validated to check whether they comply with Circular 1238. “We are validating whether their fees and the manner they came up with that amount complies to Circular 1238. Basically, that the difference between the interbank transfers and the transfers within the same institution would just be the cost directly associated with switching,” he told reporters in Manila. “If they’re able to explain it and justify that they’re directly associated with switching, so be it. Anyway, the key point here is that the consumers have the choice. If you don’t want A, then go to B. Sooner or later, the industry participants will realize,” he added. Circular 1238, which took effect on July 4, 2026, requires that any difference between intrabank and interbank transfer fees should reflect only the cost of routing a transaction through a payment network. Such expense, called the “switch cost,” is estimated at P1.50, which means that financial institutions that already have free intrabank transfers should only charge up to P1.50 for interbank transfers. A number of banks have since made their interbank transfers free, with Tangonan saying majority of the top 20 financial institutions have already complied with the circular. Major e-wallets such as GCash and Maya, however, continue to charge P10 for interbank transfers while keeping intrabank transfers free, making them among the institutions whose pricing the BSP is reviewing. Asked about e-wallets that continue to charge transfer fees, Tangonan stressed that the circular applies equally to all financial institutions, regardless of their business model. “We established a single network of interoperable transactions. So one institution can transact with another, and then we built rules around that, so we consider it as one network, one system,” Tangonan said. “If you apply different rules for some segment and you apply different rules to another, you will be introducing inefficient bottlenecks in the system. You will create congestion. Everyone benefits when there’s a free flow of transaction in the payment network,” he added. Tangonan did not provide a timeline for the review, as he said the BSP will first discuss its findings with institutions whose submissions require further clarification, before making a final determination. “We will write them what we think, so either they accept or they write back, and then we will make a final determination. Baka (Maybe) we missed something or hindi naman yata (it does not seem to be) valid, so then we will issue a directive.” “For every action, you have to give time for the reaction. We cannot naman cut the process short just because we are in a hurry given that this has also large repurcussions for everyone, so we want to be circumspect about. Be fair and follow due process, listen to them, see, consider, and then we make a determination,” he added. Asked if the non-compliant institutions will be penalized, Tangonan said the central bank will not let the process reach that point. “It is one network. We cannot have different rules for different people. Otherwise, you create inefficient bottlenecks. You know, our gains will be lost because the gain is realized when the payments move freely in the network,” he said. — RSJ, GMA News