THE VALUE of transactions done via InstaPay and PESONet jumped to P12.37 trillion as of end-September, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Transactions coursed through the two automated clearing houses climbed by 33.9% in the first nine months of 2024 from P9.24 trillion in the same period a year ago.

Meanwhile, the combined volume of transactions done via InstaPay and PESONet also surged by 64% year on year to 1.05 billion at end-September from 638.9 million.

Broken down, the value of PESONet transactions rose by 26.9% to P7.22 trillion in the first nine months from P5.69 trillion in the same year-ago period.

The volume of transactions that went through the payment gateway also increased by 9% to 73.9 million from 67.8 million.

On the other hand, the total value of transactions done through InstaPay jumped by 44.8% to P5.14 trillion as of September from P3.55 trillion a year prior.

The volume of InstaPay transactions stood at 974.4 million in the nine-month period, soaring by 70.6% from 571.1 million the previous year.

PESONet and InstaPay are automated clearing houses launched in December 2015 under the central bank’s National Retail Payment System framework.

PESONet caters to high-value transactions and may be considered as an electronic alternative to paper-based checks.

On the other hand, InstaPay is a real-time, low-value electronic fund transfer facility for transactions up to P50,000 and is mostly used for remittances and e-commerce.

Digital payments made up 52.8% of the volume of retail transactions in 2023, latest BSP data showed, higher than the 42.1% share in 2022.

Meanwhile, in terms of value, 55.3% of retail transactions last year were done online, also up from 40.1% the year prior.

The BSP wanted at least 50% of the volume and value of retail transactions done online by end-2023 under its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap.

The increase in digital payments was driven by wider use of online transaction channels among individuals and businesses, the central bank said, with the coronavirus pandemic accelerating this shift.

The central bank wants online payments to make up 60-70% of the country’s total retail transaction volume by 2028, in line with the Philippine Development Plan. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson