PSBank, RCBC extend waiver of PESONet and InstaPay fees

Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) on Wednesday announced the extension of the waiver of fees for transfers made through PESONet and InstaPay.

"Effective until further notice, the extension is part of the bank’s measures for its clients and likewise encourages them to maximize the use of digital payments in the new normal," PSBank said in an advisory.

"Please be advised that transfer fees for InstaPay and PESONet done via RCBC Online Banking and DiskarTech will be waived until December 31, 2020," RCBC said in a separate advisory.

For Meralco online payments, RCBC said users will have to provide the customer account number (CAN) and customer name.

Both banks earlier said they will waive PESONet and InstaPay fees until the end of September along with several other banks, amid the implementation of quarantines designed to curb the spread of COVID-19.

According to the central bank, several banks have already said they will waive PESONet and InstaPay fees until the end of the year — Asia United Bank, the Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines, Security Bank, Sterling Bank, and Union Bank.

In July, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said he wants at least half of all Philippine transactions done digitally by the end of his term in 2023.

To recall, the BSP launched InstaPay in April 2018. It 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 electronic fund transfers and recurring payments in financial institutions supervised by the central bank within the same banking day.

The BSP on Wednesday evening released an updated list of banks and e-money issuers that waived their fees for InstaPay and PESONet transactions.

As of September 30, the following are the list of establishments that waived fees for the transactions until December 31:

• Asia United Bank Corporation
• Bank of Commerce
• Cebuana Lhuillier Rural Bank
• China Bank Savings, Inc.
• China Banking Corporation
• CIMB Bank Philippines Ink.?Citibank (Free for individual clients)
• CTBC Bank (Philippines) Corporation
• DCPay (for retail clients)
• Development Bank of the Philippines
• East West Banking Corporation
• Equicom Savings Bank, Inc.
• Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (for retail, corporate clients)
• HSBC Savings Bank (for retail, corporate clients)
• ING Bank, N.V.
• Land Bank of the Philippines
• Maybank Philippines Inc. (for retail clients)
• Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company
• Philippine Bank of Communications
• Philippine Business Bank
• Philippine National Bank
• Philippine Savings Bank
• Philippine Veterans Bank
• Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation
• Robinsons Bank Corporation
• Rural Bank of Guinobatan
• Security Bank Corporation (for retail clients)
• Sterline Bank of Asia, Inc.
• Union Bank of the Philippines
• United Coconut Planters Bank
• Meanwhile, the following banks and e-money issuers will wave their fees for InstaPay and PESONet transactions until October 31:
• G-Xchange, Inc (GCash)
• MUFG Bank, Ltd.
• PayMaya

—AOL/BAP, GMA News