GCash, Maya mull waiving fees

GCASH and Maya are studying the impacts of waiving fees on micropayment on their balance sheet, a top official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Friday.

The BSP earlier called for the removal of fees on small-value transactions to further promote the use of digital payments.

DIGITAL PAYMENTS Trade and Industry Assistant Secretary Mary Jean Pacheco speaking at the GoDigital Pilipinas Cashless Expo on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. GCash and Maya are weighing in on the possible impact of waiving fees for micropayments to further encourage the use of digital payments. PNA PHOTO

“This is a big change, so let’s give them time to look into that. Hopefully, they come around and respond positively to the call of [BSP] Governor [Eli Remolona Jr.],” Mamerto Tangonan, BSP deputy governor for payments and currency management sector, said on the sidelines of the GoDigital Pilipinas Cashless Expo 2023 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

He said several banks have already responded to Remolona’s call to waive fees for micropayments or those transactions amounting to P1,000 and below.

“Let’s face it, our countrymen and people, if there are fees, it presents a barrier or some reluctance to pay,” Tangonan said.

He said the government wants to make sure that the majority will benefit from using digital payments.

In a separate briefing during the expo, Maya head of Acceptance and SME Richard Labitag said they are “sorting out the numbers.”

“Actually, we tried to [do] some computation on that. We are studying that. We already have the numbers, we just need to sort it out internally,” he said.

Cathlyn Pavia, GCash head of public sector and partnerships, explained that since theirs is a platform that enables multiple financial services, a number of these come from other financial institutions as well.

“So with that, we need to consider outside of the operation cost that we have. It’s also fees that we also incur through the connections with our other partners,” she said.

The Cashless Expo 2023, which will be held until November 19, aims to showcase the diverse landscape of digital payment solutions and encourage micro, small and medium enterprises to adapt to digital transactions and motivate consumers to use digital payments such as e-wallets, debt and credit cards, and online bank transfers.

PNADepartment of Trade and Industry Assistant Secretary Mary Jean Pacheco said the expo is one of the key projects in the implementation of the digital payments transformation road map.

“There are two goals of the road map. One is to digitalize digital payments, and the second one is to promote financial inclusion,” she said.

Under the BSP’s Digital Payments Transformation road map, the government aims to convert at least 50 percent of all retail payment transactions into digital form this year.

The road map also aims to have 70 percent of Filipino adults financially included. PNA