BSP vows zero transfer fees

To fully maximize the digital payment system, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has maintained that the implementation of zero fees for interbank fund transfers will push through.

- By DERCO ROSAL

During the BSP’s first Central Banking Symposium (CBS), Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. said the central bank wants “the lowest possible fees” when clients transact electronically or digitally, a move that could encourage a surge in digital payment participation.

“There is what we call network externalities,” Remolona told a press briefing on Monday, Nov. 24. “If you have a phone and you’re the only one with the phone, the phone is completely useless. If someone else has the phone, you can call that someone else. That value is maximized when everybody has a phone. It’s the same thing with digital payments.”