LandBank cuts InstaPay transfer fees to P8

State-run Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) has lowered its InstaPay transfer fee for person-to-person transactions to P8 from P15 starting Thursday, May 21, while offering one free daily transfer for transactions worth P1,000 and below.

LandBank said the reduction aims to ease the cost of everyday financial transactions while pushing the use of cashless payment channels.

“By lowering transaction fees, we are enabling more Filipinos to use secure and convenient digital channels for their every financial transactions,” LandBank president and chief executive officer Ma. Lynette Ortiz said in an emailed statement.

Moving forward, LandBank said it will also roll out zero fees for person-to-government payment services for select government transactions.

“Reducing digital transaction costs is a crucial step in bringing more Filipinos into the formal financial system,” LandBank chair and Finance secretary Frederick Go was quoted as saying in the same statement.

“By making fund transfers more affordable, LandBank is helping empower individuals, families, and small businesses to participate more actively in the digital economy,” he added.

InstaPay, an electronic fund transfer (EFT) payment system that enables individuals to wire funds across banks in real time, was launched by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in 2018.

The BSP, for its part, said it is still pushing to remove electronic fund transfer fees, at least for small transactions, as it seeks to maximize the country’s payment system. — RSJ, GMA News