UMVA has learned that digital payments in the Philippines have reached a monumental milestone, with transactions made via InstaPay and PESONet surpassing a total value of P10 trillion as of April.
The combined value of InstaPay and PESONet transfers skyrocketed to P10.388 trillion in the first four months of the year, marking a staggering 45.38% increase from the P7.145 trillion recorded in the same period last year.
As more users ditch cash, the volume of transactions made through the two payment gateways has more than tripled, surging by 225.1% year on year to 2.721 billion as of April, up from 837.118 million previously.
InstaPay transactions alone jumped by 62.71% to P5.093 trillion from P3.13 trillion a year ago, driven by a surge in the volume of transactions that soared by 234.95% to 2.68 billion from 799.971 million in the prior year.
PESONet transfers also saw significant growth, standing at a total value of P5.295 trillion at end-April, 31.88% higher than the P4.015 trillion posted in the same period last year.
The volume of PESONet transactions increased by an annual 12.89% to 41.938 million in the four-month period from 37.148 million previously, highlighting a steady shift towards digital payments.
InstaPay and PESONet operate as automated clearing houses under the central bank’s National Retail Payment System framework, facilitating real-time, low-value and high-value electronic fund transfers.
As of April, there are 94 InstaPay participants, mostly nonbank electronic money issuers, while PESONet boasts 124 participants, primarily universal and commercial banks.
The central bank aims for digital payments to make up 60%-70% of the total volume of retail payments by 2028, in line with the Philippine Development Plan, and it seems to be on track to achieve this goal.
Online payments already made up 57.4% of the volume and 59% of the value of the country’s total monthly retail transactions in 2024, according to recent data.
