Online transfer fees between banks may soon be removed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The central bank has proposed to waive the small fees users are charged for transfers in a move toward financial inclusion.
Currently, some digital transactions (if between different banks) will have users paying an InstaPay or PESONet fee ranging from P5 to P25 for transfers.
“If somebody is just paying P200 and he has to pay P15 to P20 transaction, that is a lot, right? This will discourage the use of digital payments for small transactions,” BSP Governor Felipe Medalla said.
“Halimbawa maliit lang naman bank account mo, nagbayad ka dalawang beses, tatlong beses, apart na beses, dapat hindi ka na singilin. Then we will find a way for [banks] to get back some of their losses.”
Medalla also said during the Philippine Economic Briefing that the industry is receptive to the lowering of the said fees. He is also eyeing to lower the reserve requirement ratio (the amount banks must keep with the BSP) from the current 12%.
“We are literally bribing the banks to subsidize the small transactions, and from what I hear from BAP, they are receptive to this and I look forward to more digital payments, especially by the poor using their accounts which has grown significantly because of InstaPay,” he said.
Team Zero Fees
To avoid paying the extra P25, some Filipino users have started a community on Facebook called TeamZeroFees where they list different workarounds to digital transaction fees.
There’s also a website where you can easily navigate how to send money to different banks and e-wallets without cost. For instance, if you wish to make a BPI to BDO transfer, the site proposes indirect transfer options through Bayad or ShopeePay.
