THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) is proposing to identify strategic use cases for its national QR code standard such as for transportation payments.
In a draft circular, the BSP said it is seeking to introduce the payment use cases involving QR Ph for sectors such as transportation “which shall be serviced by payment service providers (PSPs) without fees, including interbank charges, or free of charge to end-users.”
New sections are to be added to the Manual of Regulations for Payment Systems to include strategic payment use cases.
The BSP defined strategic payment use cases as those that “support the achievement of the objectives outlined in national development plans and strategies.”
These also have a “particular focus on enhancing financial inclusion and modernizing key sectors of the national economy, which ultimately foster sustainable economic growth of the country.”
For a payment use case to be considered strategic, the BSP will also consider its impact, accessibility and inclusivity.
“Strategic payment use cases shall be interoperable, consistent with the principles under the Section 201 on the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) framework and created independently and separately from existing payment use cases.”
“Interoperable payment use cases, which have already been established under the NRPS framework and are currently operating, cannot be converted into a strategic payment use case,” it added.
The strategic payment use cases shall also be offered to end-users without fees, including interbank charges, or free of charge, the BSP added.
Under the draft circular, the central bank said that payment service providers must ensure that QR-enabled payments be “accorded appropriate treatment in the determination of applicable fees.”
“PSPs offering interoperable QR-enabled payment services for strategic payment use cases… such as but not limited to the use of the national QR code standard for payments in the transportation sector, must provide these services without fees, including interbank charges, or free of charge to end users.
“PSPs shall ensure that the threats and vulnerabilities arising from their QR-enabled payment and financial services are identified, measured, monitored, and controlled accordingly,” it added.
QR Ph is the country’s QR code standard based on the Europay-Mastercard-VISA (EMV) standard, a global standard for secure payments.
The share of online payments in the total volume of monthly retail transactions rose to 52.8% in 2023 from 42.1% a year earlier. This surpassed the BSP’s target of digitializing 50% of payments by end-2023.
The central bank is targeting to achieve a 60-70% share of digital payments over total retail payments volume by 2028, in line with the Philippine Development Plan. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
