Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla recently highlighted the importance of increasing public investment on IT infrastructure and involving private players in making the goal of multilateral cross-border payments connectivity a reality as countries recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In an island economy with nearly everyone having a cell phone, public investment in satellite communications may enable access to financial services almost universal. The government may work with the private sector to maximize the potential of and speed up access to e-money and phone-based banking services,” he said in a recent session with other ASEAN central bank governors.
In establishing interoperability of cross-border payments, Medalla said central banks should address not only the technical issue of aligning the features of different payment systems, but also the non-technical challenges such as those related to regulatory, supervisory and oversight frameworks as well as anti-money laundering and data privacy related policies.
Medalla adds that the BSP is currently working with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Bank Negara Malaysia in establishing bilateral linkages between the Philippines’ InstaPay with Singapore’s PayNow and Malaysia’s DuitNow.
During the virtual session, other central bank governors also shared their visions for the future of cross-border payments in the region, key aspects of establishing interoperability opportunities for ASEAN as well as prospects for collaboration among authorities and market players.
Cross border payments in the region would be a boon for the Philippines, not only companies that conduct business with ASEAN partners, but also for our sizable migrant population who regularly spend to send remittances to loved ones back home. It is good to see the Central Banks of our region working together to make the world smaller and financial transactions more convenient, efficient and affordable.*
