Circular No. 1238 does not require banks and e-wallets to bring InstaPay and PESONet fees to zero, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said as its compliance review continued. Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan, quoted by GMA News on July 30, 2026, said the circular tells banks and electronic money issuers about the pricing mechanism and that the BSP “did not say zero”.
What the circular requires is a relationship between two prices. The fee on a person-to-person transfer to another institution, an off-us transfer, should not materially differ from the fee on the same transfer inside the institution, on-us, plus the switch cost directly attributable to the off-us leg. The same section requires the recipient to receive the full amount with no deduction. It took effect on July 4, 2026.
FinTech Alliance PH said, after talks with Monetary Board members, that off-us fees are not limited to the switch cost alone and that FAQ No. 7 on the circular should not be read as a switch-cost-only formula, according to Context.ph on July 31, 2026. That account is industry-reported: the BSP FAQ document itself could not be found on bsp.gov.ph.
GMA News also reported that the BSP would next send directives to institutions whose compliance reports raised questions. GCash and Maya each charge ₱10 per InstaPay transfer.
Who charges what: transfer fees. GCash’s own list: GCash fees.