TRANSACTIONS done through the Philippine Payment and Settlement System (PhilPaSS) Plus reached P129 trillion in the third quarter of 2023 amid the increase in settlements between financial institutions.

This was 0.5% higher than the P128.32 trillion in the same quarter in 2022, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said in its report on economic and financial developments in the third quarter of 2023.

PhilPaSS Plus is a real-time gross settlement system that processes and settles high-value transactions between banks through the demand deposit accounts of the lenders maintained with the BSP. The growing number of settlements by financial institutions prompted the BSP to upgrade the PhilPaSS system to PhilPaSS Plus on July 26, 2020.

Meanwhile, the total volume of transactions settled and processed by PhilPaSS Plus climbed 3.22% to 374,986 in the third quarter from the 363,277 seen a year prior.

This, as transactions made through financial market infrastructures (FMIs) and clearing switch operators (CSOs) grew by 10.1% year on year, and transactions between financial institutions (FIs) rose 8.4% annually.

“The increase in FMI and CSO transactions was due mainly to the growth in Delivery vs Payment (DvP)/National Registry of Scripless Securities (NROSS) and automated clearing houses (ACHs) transactions, which expanded year on year by 41% and 8.3%, respectively,” the BSP said.

The central bank said the growth in DvP/NROSS transactions came amid increased transactions in the government securities market as players preferred safer assets due to uncertainties in domestic and external markets.

“Moreover, the increase in ACHs transactions (i.e., transactions done via PESONet and InstaPay) can be attributed to the BSP’s continued efforts in digitalizing retail payments through the launching of Paleng-QR Ph Plus,” it said.

The growth in PESONet and InstaPay transactions can also be attributed to the waiver of transfer fee charges by some banks for transfers of P1,000 and below during the quarter, the BSP said.

“During the third quarter, payments among individuals, corporates, and government accounted for 38.6% of the volume of transactions at the PhilPaSS Plus, followed by transactions made through FMIs and CSOs at 33.8%, and transfers among FIs at 16.3%. The remaining 11.3% came from transactions with BSP units, government collections and payments, and intra-account transfers,” the central bank added.

“In terms of value, transactions with BSP units (68.4%), FMIs and CSOs (18.3%), and payments among individuals, corporations, and government (6.2%) made up about 92.8% of the total value of transactions,” it said.

Meanwhile, the volume of retail transactions — or customer payments to government, businesses, and individuals — stood at 184,240 in the third quarter, down by 0.5% year on year.

On the other hand, transactions via ACHs grew by 8.3% annually.

“The year-on-year growth in ACHs transactions may be attributed to the BSP’s initiatives in promoting digital retail payments across the country, which include among others Paleng-QR, Bills Pay PH, and QR Ph,” the central bank said.

“While there was lesser volume of retail transactions recorded in third quarter of 2023, the total value of transactions in these categories increased to P13.3 trillion, higher by 4.8% year on year,” it added. — K.B. Ta-asan

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