THE VALUE of transactions done through InstaPay and PESONet jumped by 34.6% to nearly P14 trillion as of end-October, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Transactions coursed through the two automated clearing houses climbed to P13.99 trillion in the first 10 months of 2024 from P10.39 trillion in the same period a year ago.

In terms of volume, transactions done via InstaPay and PESONet also surged by 62.3% year on year to 1.19 billion from 733.5 million.

Broken down, the value of transactions done through PESONet increased by 27.9% to P8.17 trillion at end-October from P6.39 trillion in the year-ago period.

The volume of PESONet transactions likewise went up by 9.5% to 82.9 million in the first 10 months from 75.7 million the year prior.

Meanwhile, the value of InstaPay transactions stood at P5.82 trillion in the 10-month period, higher by 45.3% from the P4 trillion recorded a year prior.

The volume of transactions that went through the payment gateway skyrocketed by 68.3% to 1.1 billion from 657.8 million in the same period in 2023.

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.

Meanwhile, 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, up from the 42.1% share in 2022, latest BSP data showed,

In terms of value, 55.3% of retail transactions last year were done online, also rising 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 central bank also 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