More banks to cut, waive online transfer fees - BSP

GCash, Maya jump on the bandwagon

- By KEISHA TA-ASAN

More banks are expected to waive or lower electronic transfer fees in the coming days after two lenders moved to make InstaPay transactions free for their digital banking customers, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

On the sidelines of a book launch, BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said more banks are expected to follow in waiving or lowering electronic transfer fees as the new pricing rules under Circular 1238 took effect yesterday.

“In about two days. We expect more banks to follow,” Remolona told reporters when asked if the BSP expects more lenders to cut or waive transfer fees after Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) announced free InstaPay transactions.

Remolona said this would help strengthen the country’s digital payments ecosystem, as payment systems become more useful when more consumers and institutions take part.

Digital wallets GCash and Maya have lowered their online transfer fees to other banks via InstaPay to P10 from P15 per transaction, as more banks and financial institutions slash or waive fees for digital fund transfers.