Philippine digital transfers soar past P19 trillion as fees fall

A leap in both value and volume

Money sent through the Philippines’ two main electronic transfer networks reached ₱19.16 trillion in the first seven months of 2026, up 44.8% from ₱13.23 trillion a year earlier. The number of transfers rose even faster, climbing 155% to nearly 4.98 billion, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed.bworldonline +1

July alone accounted for ₱3.07 trillion across 773.2 million transactions, compared with ₱2.10 trillion and 373.3 million transactions in July 2025.manilatimes +1 The new seven-month total extends a rapid expansion that had already pushed combined transfers above ₱16 trillion during the first half of the year.business

Instant payments drive the surge

InstaPay, the real-time network used for transfers of up to ₱50,000, handled ₱9.51 trillion from January through July, a 60.3% annual increase. Its volume jumped 160% to 4.9 billion transactions, making small, immediate payments the dominant source of the overall increase.bworldonline +1

PESONet, which processes larger transfers in batches and serves as an electronic alternative to checks, remained slightly ahead by value. It moved ₱9.65 trillion, up 32.2%, while its transaction count increased a more modest 15.4% to 76.4 million.bworldonline +1 The contrast points to broader everyday use of InstaPay even as businesses, institutions and government agencies continue to rely on PESONet for higher-value payments.manilatimes

Lower fees reshape customer behavior

The acceleration followed a wave of fee reductions and waivers by major banks and electronic-wallet providers. BPI permanently removed interbank transfer fees from July 1, with other institutions following, after a central-bank rule required charges to be reasonable, market-based and tied to the actual cost of providing the service.business The rule says pricing differences between transfers within one institution and those sent elsewhere should mainly reflect the network switching cost, typically about ₱1.50, plus other directly attributable expenses.bworldonline

The figures strengthen the central bank’s case that lower costs can deepen adoption, but they do not show how much of the annual increase came specifically from July’s fee changes. Digital payments already represented 64.7% of Philippine retail-payment volume in 2025, up from 57.5% in 2024 and within the government’s 60%–70% target for 2028.bworldonline +1 Continued growth will therefore depend not only on free transfers, but also on whether providers can sustain the policy while keeping fast-growing payment rails reliable and accessible.