Transactions processed through the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Peso Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system surged in the second quarter, reflecting stronger financial activity and the continued shift toward electronic payments.
The value of transactions processed through the Philippine Payment and Settlement System (PhilPaSSplus) jumped 32.6% year on year to P174.6 trillion in the April-to-June period, up from P131.7 trillion a year earlier. It was the fastest quarterly growth recorded since the system was launched in 2021.
Transaction volume also increased, rising 7.6% to 447,253 from 415,850 a year earlier. Compared with the first quarter, transaction value climbed 5.8% from P165.1 trillion, while transaction volume increased 2.6% from 436,086.
Large-value payments remained the biggest driver of the increase. Their value rose 25.8% year on year and accounted for 80.4% of total transactions during the quarter. Activity between financial institutions increased 15.4%, while foreign-exchange trading rose 9.1% and government-securities trading grew 8.9%.
Retail payments also expanded rapidly, with their value increasing 26.8% from a year earlier. The volume of retail transactions rose 7.4%, supported by continued growth in electronic fund transfers through systems such as PESONet and InstaPay, as well as customer payments.
Transactions between PhilPaSSplus participants, including financial-institution transfers and settlements involving foreign exchange and securities, represented 42.6% of total activity. Customer payments accounted for another 36.2%, highlighting the system’s role in both financial-market operations and everyday payment flows.
The increase comes as the BSP continues to modernize the country’s payment infrastructure. PhilPaSSplus is the Philippines’ only peso real-time gross settlement system and provides final, transaction-by-transaction settlement in central bank money.
The central bank has also been working toward extending PhilPaSSplus operating hours to near-continuous availability. The proposed expansion is intended to better accommodate digital payments, cross-border transactions and financial-market activity while reducing delays caused when retail payment systems operate beyond the RTGS system’s current operating window.
The BSP has simultaneously strengthened safeguards around the payment infrastructure. New incident-management rules require participating institutions to promptly report operational problems and use alternative settlement arrangements when disruptions prevent transactions from being completed normally.
The second-quarter surge therefore reflects more than a rise in the amount of money moving through the financial system. It also shows how rapidly electronic payments and digital financial activity are becoming embedded in the Philippine economy, increasing the importance of reliable, resilient and continuously available payment infrastructure.
As digital transactions continue to expand, the BSP’s challenge will be to keep the country’s payment rails capable of handling higher volumes while maintaining settlement reliability, cybersecurity and financial stability.
