Banks with waived transfer fees until December 31, 2023

A number of banks will continue to waive interbank transfer fees until the end of the year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Below is a list of banks with waived fees as of October 31, 2023:

InstaPay

Until November 11, 2023

• Union Bank of the Philippines (For transactions worth P1,000 and below)

Until December 31, 2023

• Bank of the Philippine Islands  (For transactions up to P1,000 using BPI application)
• BPI Direct BanKO Inc. (For transactions P1,000 and below; P25 for P1,001 and above)
• CIMB Bank Philippines
• GoTyme Bank Corp. (First three transactions for every week free, P8 per transaction after)
• Land Bank of the Philippines (Free online fund transfers for the first three transactions worth P1,000 and below per day)
• Maya Bank Inc.
• Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (Free for transactions worth P1,000 and below)
• SeaBank Philippines Inc.
• Tonik Digital Bank Inc.

PESONet

Until December 31, 2023

• BPI Direct BanKO Inc.
• Country Builders Bank Inc.
• CIMB Bank Philippines
• East West Bank
• GoTyme Bank Corp.
• HSBC (retail clients)
• HSBC Savings Bank (retail clients)
• Land Bank of the Philippines (Free online fund transfers for the first three transactions worth P1,000 and below per day)
• Maya Bank Inc.
• PayMongo Payments Inc.
• Philippine Business Bank Inc.
• Rural Bank of Guinobatan
• SeaBank Philippines Inc.
• Tonik Digital Bank Inc.
• Union Bank of the Philippines (retail clients)

Launched in April 2018, InstaPay is an electronic fund transfer (EFT) payment system that enables individuals to wire funds across banks in real time.

Meanwhile, PESONet was launched in 2017, enabling the government, businesses, and individuals to initiate EFTs and recurring payments in financial institutions supervised by the BSP within the same banking day.

Former BSP governor Felipe Medalla in February said the central bank is ready to work with the banking industry to incentivize more Filipinos to use digital payments and eliminate fees on small-value fund transfers.

He then said that a P15 fee — charged by a number of banks for interbank transfers — for a P200 transaction would be “quite large” relative to the amount being sent.

The BSP has since cut down the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) or the amount of cash a bank must hold in its reserves against deposits made by customers in the country for big banks by 250 basis points to 9.5% effective June 30.—AOL, GMA Integrated News