The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) welcomed OmniPay Inc. as the first non-bank electronic money issuer (EMI) participant in the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system through PhilPaSSplus.
This opens doors for a more inclusive financial ecosystem, empowering non-bank players like OmniPay to directly access the secure and efficient infrastructure for high-value transactions.
“Giving nonbank electronic money issuers access to the RTGS system is in accordance with the National Payment Systems Act, authorizing the BSP to determine the institutions that are allowed to participate in payment systems owned and operated by it, and those that can open an account with the BSP for settlement purposes,” said BSP assistant governor Mary Anne Lim, head of Peso RTGS management committee.
The extension of PhilPaSSplus access signals an era of a more inclusive national payment system, where non-bank financial institutions can make efficient and low-risk funds transfers without an existing RTGS participant sponsoring them into settlement.
Direct access to the PhilPaSSplus allows non-banks to benefit from the efficiency and safety of sending, receiving, and maintaining funds with no less than the central bank.
“As direct participation in the Peso RTGS payment system is expected to become more diverse based on global trends, the BSP has rules in place to safeguard the entire Peso RTGS payment system,” Lim said.
There are now 236 institutions using the PhilPaSSplus to settle large value transactions and retail payment clearing results arising from ATM, InstaPay, PESONet, and check transactions.
These include universal and commercial banks, thrift banks, rural banks, digital banks, non-bank quasi-banks (NBQBs), clearing switch operators (CSOs), financial market infrastructures (FMIs) and nonbank EMI participants.
