Over the past week, several banks and e-wallets have either reduced or completely removed their InstaPay and PESONet transfer fees after new rules from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) took effect on July 4. Under BSP Circular No. 1238, financial institutions are now expected to base digital transfer fees on actual processing costs rather than charging significantly more for transfers to other banks.
Among the biggest changes, LandBank, BPI, UnionBank, RCBC Pulz, VYBE by BPI, BanKo, and BizKo now offer free InstaPay transfers through their respective digital channels, although RCBC Pulz still limits the waiver to 30 transfers a month. Meanwhile, Maya and GCash lowered their InstaPay fee from ₱15 to ₱10, while China Bank is running a ₱5 promotional rate until Sept. 30.
The changes comes after BSP said that if a bank already lets customers transfer money for free within its own platform, charging much higher fees for sending funds to another bank is difficult to justify. The regulator estimates the actual “switch cost” for an InstaPay transaction is only around ₱1.50, and has signaled that interbank transfer fees should closely reflect that amount.
Malacañang called on banks and e-wallets to lower or eliminate transfer fees, saying cheaper digital transactions would help remove barriers to financial access and encourage more Filipinos to use formal banking services.
Finance Secretary Frederick Go, who chairs LandBank’s board, earlier pushed the state-run bank to reduce its transfer fees before eventually making them free. While the Department of Finance cannot regulate private banks, the move was intended to encourage the rest of the industry to bring down costs as well.
BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. has said he expects even more banks and e-wallets to announce lower transfer fees in the coming days, suggesting the recent wave of fee cuts may only be the beginning.
A ₱10 or ₱15 transfer fee may seem insignificant on its own, but for Filipinos who regularly move money between banks, pay suppliers, send allowances, or split everyday expenses, those charges can quickly pile up.
As more banks reduce or eliminate digital transfer fees, even small savings on every transaction could make cashless banking more affordable in the long run.
