BSP seeks clarifications on transfer fee compliance as review progresses

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has started seeking further clarification from financial institutions whose compliance reports on interbank transfer fees raised questions, as it advances its review of whether banks and e-wallets are complying with rules limiting fee differences to switching costs.

According to BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan, the central bank said it will send out directives to financial institutions, the next stage after it started the review of their compliance reports.

"Magdidirekta kami, magsasabi kami. Mayroon na kaming response (We will direct, we will communicate. We already have a response)," he told reporters in an interview in Manila City.

"Puwede naman kami magtanong, ano 'to, bakit ganyan 'yung numero (We can ask 'What is this? Why is the figure like this')?" he added.

He declined to elaborate further, saying communications with financial institutions are held in confidence.

Tangonan earlier said financial institutions submitted their compliance reports on July 15, and these are being validated to check whether or not 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 said on July 20.

"If they're able to explain it and justify that they're directly associated with switching, so be it," 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.

Tangonan earlier stressed that the circular applies equally to all financial institutions supervised by the BSP, regardless of their business model. — VDV, GMA News