Update (September 30): Both GCash and Paymaya announced that they are delaying implementations of their fees, which will now take effect on November 1, 2020. Inter-bank transactions for the whole month of October will still be waived.
You can also check the UPDATED list of banks waiving their inter-bank fees until December 31, 2020 here.
It’s not just BPI and GCash: A number of financial institutions will start charging inter-bank transfer fees made through InstaPay or PesoNET beginning October 1.
This move is not surprising at all considering the list, as an earlier notice by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) last June already noted that these institutions are offering the waiver on fees for a limited time, either until the end of September or the end of the year.
We checked and compiled the BSP’s documents on fees, and these are the full list of banks scheduled to charge inter-bank fees via PESONet or InstaPay beginning October 1, 2020:
| Starting October 1, 2020 | Transfer charge via PESONet | Transfer charge via InstaPay |
|---|---|---|
| Bank of China, Ltd. – Manila Branch | TBA | TBA |
| Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) | PHP 50 | PHP 50 |
| BDO Unibank, Inc. | PHP 50 | PHP 50 |
| G-Xchange Inc. (GCash) | TBA | PHP 15 * starting November 1, 2020 |
| Paymaya Philippines, Inc. | N/A | PHP 10 * starting November 1, 2020 |
Several banks may update their consumers through their official websites and pages in the coming days of any changes in these — whether they will implement reduced charges, extend their waived fees, or continue with the expiration on September 30. We’ve also asked GCash for clarification on their fees as they become a topic on several websites. GCash has announced their fees but later sent a notification that they will move their implementation to November.
The waived fees on inter-bank transactions started during the nationwide lockdown this past summer, as part of their commitment to digitize transactions and enable people to use basic banking services even while at home. The BSP extended this last June, with banks responding their waived fees expiring either on September 30, December 31 or until further notice. Meanwhile, all-digital banks such as CIMB and ING have offered free bank transfers from the very start.
