But there\u2019s a catch.<\/p>\n
RCBC Pulz customers may make only up to 30 free InstaPay transfers per month, with a minimum amount of P100 per transaction. Transfers below P100 or beyond the monthly free allocation will still be charged P10. DiskarTech users, meanwhile, will get free person-to-person InstaPay transfers with no minimum amount and no monthly cap.<\/p>\n
But the BSP appears to be saying that \u201cfree\u201d can\u2019t come with too much fine print under its new circular.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan told reporters on Friday that the central bank had already spoken with RCBC over its fee structure. (READ: Banks, e-wallets have until July 4 to lower transfer fees \u2013 Bangko Sentral<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u201cWe talked to Reggie,\u201d Tangonan said, referring to RCBC president and chief executive officer Reggie Cariaso. \u201cWe said that\u2019s not compliant with the [circular].\u201d<\/p>\n The circular in question is BSP Circular No. 1238, which takes effect on July 4. It sets a new pricing framework<\/a> for fund transfers with the goal of bringing down fees for banks and e-wallets.<\/p>\n Asked if there should be no limit on free transfers, Tangonan went back to the circular\u2019s pricing logic.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you read the circular, all it says is the pricing mechanism,\u201d Tangonan said. \u201cSo, all we say is that whatever you charge, the price of your off-us transaction must be the same as your on-us [or] cannot be more than your on-us price plus the switch fee. That\u2019s all it says,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n To put it simply, if transfers within the same bank are free, then transfers to another bank or e-wallet should generally cost only the switch fee. For InstaPay, that switch fee is industry-wide and around P1.50.<\/p>\n Making all transfers free but adding a 30-transfer cap is toeing the line. If an RCBC Pulz customer is still charged P10 after using up 30 free InstaPay transfers, BSP may ask whether that P10 fee can still be justified under the new framework. After all, the circular is trying to prevent a wide gap between what banks charge for transfers within the same bank and those to another.<\/p>\n Tangonan explained it quite directly: \u201cBank A to Bank A, free. And then, if you want to maintain that free Bank A to Bank A, free, when you do Bank A to Bank B, it should be [just] plus switch.\u201d<\/p>\n There was another curious omission. RCBC talked about free InstaPay transfers, but said nothing about PESONet. That may be another wrinkle. Tangonan stressed that the BSP circular covers person-to-person transfers more broadly, not just one payment rail.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s person-to-person transfer. But person-to-person, there\u2019s InstaPay, there\u2019s PESONet,\u201d he said in a mix of English and Filipino at the sidelines of a BSP book launch on Friday.<\/p>\n If you recall, this was also the same pricing math Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) faced. They chose the cleaner route \u2014 just kill the fee entirely<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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