Latest news with #InstaPay
GMA Network
3 days ago
- Business
- GMA Network
Higala-RCBC tie up onboards 8 rural banks to InstaPay
In an effort to expand the digital footprint of rural banks, the partnership between Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and homegrown instant payments infrastructure provider Higala Group Inc. has onboarded eight rural banks across the country to InstaPay. Higala and RCBC have jointly created Synerfi, an open payments platform that reduces barriers and accelerates the participation of smaller financial institutions in InstaPay. The companies developed Synerfi to help rural banks as well as microfinance institutions expand their digital transactions through InstaPay as 'traditionally, many rural and community banks have been excluded from the digital financial ecosystem due to regulatory and technological constraints.' Among the onboarded rural banks in Synerfi include Rural Bank of San Antonio Inc., Rural Bank of Lipa City (Batangas), Inc., Progressive Rural Bank Inc., Banco Abucay Inc., Rural Bank of Hermosa (Bataan) Inc., Money Mall Rural Bank Inc., First Philippine Partners Bank Inc. (A Rural Bank), and Lagawe Highlands Rural Bank, Inc. 'This marks the beginning of empowering the underserved banking sector by enabling them to offer digital banking services that are otherwise available only to mainstream and traditional banks,' said Winston Damarillo, president and CEO of Higala. "Connecting rural banks to Instapay and the wider digital ecosystem is not simply an act of digitalization, but a deeper commitment to accelerate financial inclusion in underserved areas. SynerFi continues to demonstrate its promise to drive financial access beyond urban areas and materialize the government's sustainable agenda," said Lito Villanueva, executive vice president and chief innovation and inclusion officer of RCBC. "RCBC is excited to welcome more participants with the shared mission to make banking services accessible to all Filipinos into the instant payment ecosystem," Villanueva added. The RCBC official said the bank and Higala are 'targeting 40 rural banks to be onboarded.' Under their partnership, Higala is providing the technology to operationalize SynerFi while RCBC is acting as the sponsor platform bank and manage the essential regulatory requirements, such as compliance, clearing, and settlement. 'SynerFi seeks to empower rural banks like Rural Bank of San Antonio to access world-class digital banking capabilities. Launching these services with zero capital intensity and without the heavy burden of building dedicated in-house tech and compliance teams is invaluable, enabling us to offer customers top-tier technology and services, truly digitizing our reach.' said Ronaldo Recto, president of the Rural Bank of San Antonio. Meanwhile, Higala also secured a fresh seed funding of $4 million from venture capitalists Talino Venture Studios, Chemonics International, Kadan Capital, Tenco Capital, and 1982 Ventures. 'Fresh funds from our investors will help accelerate Higala's capabilities of powering SynerFi and helping more financial institutions grow and expand their services to their customers and become active players in the digital economy,' Damarilio said. 'After successfully raising our target seed funding of $2.8 million, we've expanded our round to $4 million due to increased interest in Higala and signaling investor confidence in our product,' said Chemonics International president and CEO Jamey Butcher. —AOL, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
27-05-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
Electronic fund transfers hit P7.15T from Jan.-April 2025
The value of electronic fund transfers coursed through PESONet and InstaPay reached over P7 trillion in the first four months of 2025, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The combined value of transactions through the BSP-National Retail Payment System-supervised automated clearing houses hit P7.15 trillion in January to April this year, up from P5.22 trillion in the same period in 2024. The bulk of electronic fund transfers during the period were made through PESONet, amounting to P4.014 trillion, which is higher than the P3.122 trillion in PESONet transactions from January to April 2024. InstaPay transactions, meanwhile, reached P3.13 trillion in the first four months of the year, up from P2.101 trillion year-on-year. In April alone, the value of transactions through PESONet reached P1.011 trillion, up from P855.01 billion in the same month last year. InstaPay transactions, on the other hand, stood at P841.11 billion in April 2025, higher than the P558.62 billion in transaction value seen in April 2024. Launched in 2017, the Philippine EFT System and Operations Network, or PESONet, was the first automated clearing under the BSP's National Retail Payment System. It is a batch electronic fund transfer (EFT) credit payment scheme, which can be considered an electronic alternative to the paper-based check system. InstaPay is a real-time low-value EFT credit push payment scheme for transaction amounts up to P50,000. Launched in 2018, it is designed to facilitate small-value payments that will be especially useful for the purchase of retail goods, paying toll fees and tickets, and for e-commerce, which shall enable, among others, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). —VAL, GMA Integrated News
Coin Geek
15-05-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
Philippines pushes for fairer digital transaction fees
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippine central bank, is urging financial institutions to adopt a 'market-based' and 'fair' pricing mechanism for digital transaction fees, in a move aimed at reducing—if not removing—costs for consumers transferring money electronically. The BSP is currently seeking comments from stakeholders on a draft circular that would guide banks and non-bank financial institutions in setting their fees for electronic fund transfers such as InstaPay and PESONet. 'The pricing mechanism must be adequately supported by an analysis of costs incurred by the BSFI [BSP-supervised financial institution] in delivering electronic payment products and services, which may be subject to validation by the BSP,' the proposal stated. BSP emphasized that these pricing models must not create an imbalance between different users. 'The pricing mechanism shall not unduly favor one end-user relative to others,' the draft further noted. The proposed guidance marks a shift from the central bank's previous approach, explicitly proposing eliminating fees on small-value personal fund transfers. That provision is no longer part of the current draft. Although the response of banks to the earlier proposal remains unclear, any effort to bring down digital transaction costs aligns with the BSP's broader agenda to increase digital adoption and improve financial access across the Philippine population. According to BSP data, current InstaPay fees range from PHP8 to PHP75 ($0.14 to $1.35) per transaction, while PESONet charges can go as high as PHP600 ($11). Furthermore, the draft circular introduces an added layer of oversight, requiring BSP approval for any increases in existing fees or the introduction of new charges on digital payment services. Digital payment usage surges as BSP eyes more inclusive system The BSP's push for fairer transaction fees comes on the back of rising digital payments across the country. According to the latest central bank data, the share of digital payments in total retail transactions rose to 52.8% in 2023, up from 42.1% in 2022. This means that out of the estimated five billion monthly retail payment transactions in the country last year, over 2.6 billion were conducted through digital channels. The central bank sees this growth as both an opportunity and a responsibility. By ensuring that fees are aligned with actual service delivery costs, it aims to support further uptake while making financial services more accessible to more Filipinos. BSP governor cites financial sector strength, vows reform continuity The BSP's regulatory efforts to improve digital transactions are part of a broader strategy to strengthen the financial system, which the central bank said closed 2024 with strong momentum. In its report on the Philippine Financial System for the second half of 2024, the BSP highlighted the continued growth of supervised financial institutions, including banks, trust operations, and foreign currency deposit units. These gains, it said, have enabled institutions to keep delivering essential financial services to households and businesses alike. 'BSP's policy reforms and collaboration, alongside improving macroeconomic and industry outlook, have enabled supervised entities to expand and meet Filipinos' evolving financial needs,' BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. said in a statement. 'These efforts support a more resilient financial system.' The report attributed sector-wide growth to a widening financial services network and advances in digital platforms. These trends, BSP noted, are enhancing customer experiences and increasing the reach of financial services, including to underserved and remote communities. The BSP also outlined its continued focus on safeguarding the system against financial crime and cyber threats. It spotlighted the rollout of enhanced supervision mechanisms for money laundering and terrorism financing risks, as well as a cyber resilience roadmap and updated regulatory approaches for money service businesses and pawnshops. Additionally, the lifting of the moratorium on the establishment of digital banks was cited as a forward-looking step, reinforcing the BSP's commitment to innovation while maintaining oversight. Watch: The Philippines is at the forefront of blockchain tech adoption title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Zawya
24-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Egypt's Digital Issuing Revolution – Apple Tokenisation Drives Interest
Payment Industry Trends in Egypt The payments landscape in Egypt is undergoing significant transformation, influenced by both technological advancements and changing consumer behaviour. Digital adoption is on the government's agenda, especially when it comes to SMEs (small medium enterprises) which have seen a fast-growing fintech scene. On the agenda are efforts to target the underbanked and drive mobile digital first propositions, which accelerated after the pandemic. Alongside this has been a notable increase in card issuance owing to the growing acceptance of digital payments. Banks are launching within the market digital payment products such as contactless cards and mobile wallets. Even more recently, in late 2024, saw Apple Wallet enter the market and with the three largest bank issuers launched tokenisation. This has been hugely popular, and take-up has been high. So much so that the remainder of the banks are lining up to also tokenise. On the acquiring front, there has been a spate of M&A activity to consolidate and drive efficiency, so the focus continues to be price driven around rates and merchant retention efforts from value-added services. But new payment methods like QR codes and InstaPay have taken off. Despite this market push, Egypt's 34 banks have been issuing cards for decades and there is around 25,000 ATMs. Most of the issued cards are debit or prepaid in nature. The high inflation caused by crises like Ukraine has led to low usage of credit cards. As a foreigner visiting, it is surprisingly a country where you feel you need cash. I haven't been to an ATM to withdraw cash for I can't remember how long, and whilst I sought to resist going to see if I could survive digitally as I have easily done in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania etc, the challenge to find a restaurant that would take a card almost beat me. Egypt is surprisingly still very heavily cash driven. Change is taking place though. According to Mastercard's New Payment Index 2022, 67% of Egyptians increased their use of digital payment methods during the COVID-19 pandemic. On my visit to market, I got to spend time with leading payments company EBE (Egyptian Bureau for Engineering) which has played a key role in over 40 years to help with card production and personalisation, accounting for circa 95% of the cards in circulation, they have also deployed many of the POS terminals and ATMs in market. Talking with their team, younger consumers now prefer mobile wallets and contactless payments as safer and more convenient alternatives. Initiatives like the national domestic payment scheme, Meeza, support this shift offering prepaid cards to enable users to engage in cashless transactions while still providing access to cash withdrawals when needed. Digital payment platforms are emerging as key players in this transition, allowing consumers to settle bills and make purchases online. Some of the more popular are: Fawry: I believe the largest and most popular digital payment platforms provide a wide range of services, including bill payments, mobile top-ups and online shopping. Customers access Fawry through its app or physical kiosks, making it versatile, and its extensive network ensures broad acceptance among merchants and service providers. MyFawry extends into an online platform to make both online and offline payments and is now widely accepted across different sectors, including utilities and government services. Easycash: allows users to conduct transactions and money transfers via a mobile app. It supports payments through QR codes or by entering a merchant's phone number, facilitating everything from bill payments to online shopping. With a user-friendly interface and loyalty programmes that reward frequent users, its popularity is growing fast. Halan: is a digital wallet primarily used for transport and food delivery services, but it also supports various online purchases. Users make payments by scanning QR codes or entering merchant details, making it a convenient cashless transaction option. InstaPay: enables instant real-time payment transactions through a mobile app linked to users' bank accounts or credit cards. Enabling secure payments for bills and online purchases, it enhances convenience by providing detailed transaction histories and expense tracking. Sympl: facilitates payments for utilities, online shopping and person-to-person transfers through its mobile payment platform. Users manage their finances through the app, which allows payments via QR codes or linked accounts. ALAHLI E-Wallet: provided by the National Bank of Egypt, allows smartphone users to perform transactions supporting payments at various merchants and facilitating P2P fund transfers between wallet users. Masary and Aman: are both notable digital payment platforms catering to a wide range of consumer needs with user-friendly interfaces designed to enable cashless transactions for utilities, government services and retail purchases. The newest of these and probably the one with the fastest future growth potential is InstaPay, which also has a strong secure payment environment, using 128-bit encryption to protect data transmitted through its platform. The platform incorporates 3D Secure technology, which adds an additional layer of security during online transactions so that cardholders verify their identity through a one-time PIN or password and two-factor authentication (2FA), which adheres to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Will Egypt trail in the digitalisation wake of other African countries? Possibly. Egypt has certainly had a huge boost being one of the first batch of African countries to regulate for a major X-Pay Wallet deployment, and with Apple Pay the deployment has gone exceedingly well. But other African governments and Central Banks are pushing regulation that incentivises the digitalisation of cash, for example Libya, others are pushing a more aggressive digital issuance drive like Ethiopia, some have already implemented innovative National QR code schemes like Kenya and Tanzania and some, like Tanzania, are even offering tax incentives to encourage higher end NFC-enabled devices like smartphones and wearables to come into the market which, with a virtual card issuing push and tokenisation of this, will help countries leapfrog the resistance to cash. From my recent visit and attempts to find ways to pay by card, Egypt possibly needs an additional stimulus to encourage certainly older people and SMEs to embrace digital payments. However, Egypt is a huge market and therefore the opportunity is also large. Once a tipping point is reached with digital payment adoption, usage will accelerate rapidly. What is definitely at play is a wide range of options. This ubiquity will mean that banks need to orchestrate several different methods of payment for its customers. With most banks having bought their core card management systems or payment switches over a decade ago there is a local need by the banks to protect these core (legacy) technologies. Whilst several options may exist, the most cost / time economic solution also maximising flexibility, agility and the reduction of operational risk when deploying new products is payment fabric. Payment Fabric enables digital first mobile friendly payment experiences without replacing existing systems Payment fabric provides a modern microservice approach to deploy new features without replacing existing investments. This is where Stanchion's Payment Fabric provides a critical advantage. Our modular and adaptive technology bridges the gap between legacy banking infrastructure and next-generation digital payment experiences. By enabling seamless integration across banking platforms, card networks and digital wallets, we empower financial institutions to innovate at speed, optimise costs and deliver the frictionless digital experiences that modern consumers expect. To remain competitive, banks must invest in robust digital infrastructure, forge strategic partnerships and prioritise customer-centric solutions that match the convenience of digital payments. With a global footprint and deep Middle East and Africa market expertise, Stanchion is uniquely positioned to support this transition — helping banks build scalable, future-ready payment ecosystems that align with Egypt's changing and dynamic economy. Stanchion is ready to collaborate and shape the future of payments with Egyptian Banks and Fintechs.
Egypt Independent
10-04-2025
- Business
- Egypt Independent
E-transfer fee hike: Banque Misr & Bank of Alexandria follow InstaPay's lead
Banque Misr and Bank of Alexandria have decided to implement a new increase in the fees for money transfers through their electronic applications, as part of the ongoing changes in digital banking policies. At the same time, the National Bank of Egypt announced the continued full exemption from transfer fees through its digital channels (AlAhly Net and AlAhly Mobile) indefinitely, as part of its policy to support financial inclusion. This step comes after InstaPay imposed a transfer fee of 0.1 percent of the transaction amount, with a minimum of 50 piasters and a maximum of LE20. The fee was set at a maximum per transaction of LE 70,000, a daily maximum of LE 120,000, and a monthly maximum of LE 400,000. National Bank of Egypt The National Bank of Egypt is exempting transfers between NBE accounts, transfers from NBE to other banks, and all transactions via digital channels. This comes despite the fact that the basic tariff sets a fee of one per thousand (five LE to LE 75) + three LE per transaction. Banque Misr Following the official announcement of the new InstaPay instant transfer application fees at the beginning of April, Banque Misr surprised its customers in an official post by announcing new fees for electronic transfers conducted via its electronic application 'BM Online.' Banque Misr said in a post on its official Facebook page that the decision to impose new fees comes within its updated terms of service for the app, which aims to achieve greater streamlining of the electronic payment process and make it similar to the fees charged by the InstaPay app. Regarding the new fees, Banque Misr indicated that a fee of 0.1 percent of the transaction value will be applied, with a minimum of 50 piasters and a maximum of LE 20 per transaction, similar to the InstaPay app. For example – to transfer LE 500, the fee is 50 piasters. To transfer LE 1,000, the fee is LE 1. To transfer LE 5,000, the cost is five LE. The user incurs a maximum fee of LE20 when transferring from LE20,000 to LE70,000. Bank of Alexandria Bank of Alexandria has decided to impose 0.15 percent fee on instant transfers made through its electronic application, with a minimum fee of LE10 and a maximum of LE50. This coincides with the new update launched by InstaPay regarding fees and tariffs for its services, which took effect on April 1. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
