Turns out, all good things must come to an end. In the case of web-based interbank money transfers made via Instapay and PESONet, the policy of waiving fees for transactions made beginning early this year is drawing dangerously close to its conclusion.
In an announcement on Wednesday, 23 September 2020, the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) said some of the major domestic banks are reimposing the usual fees for interbank money transfers made via Instapay and PESONet starting Thursday next week, 01 October 2020.
This means top Philippine banks like BDO and BPI are set to once again charge P50 per interbank transfer transaction, while Metrobank will be charging P25 per transaction.
Not all banks are headed to the same direction, though. Banks like Security Bank, Union Bank, and Landbank have announced that waiving of fees for Instapay and PESONet transactions shall continue until the end of 2020.
Instapay and PESONet transactions via digital banks such as ING, CIMB, and Komo will continue to provide welcome relief as they remain free of charge, with no indication of change anytime soon.
The policy of waiving fees for web-based interbank transfers was initiated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to make digital banking an attractive alternative to the public whose mobility was severely restricted by the declaration of an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) across the island of Luzon in March 2020.
Recall that when the ECQ was put in place as a response to the then burgeoning health crisis brought by the spread of COVID-19, a huge swath of the population was practically stuck at their homes. The shift to digital banking was no doubt spurred not only by the strict ECQ, but also by the waiving of banking fees.
The impending reimposition of the usual fees is seen to likely split the banking public: On the one hand, some will probably get discouraged by the service fees charged per transaction, particularly those who need to do multiple transactions. For these people, it might be better to simply go to the nearest ATM. On the other hand, a few will probably consider the fees as an equitable trade-off to the inconvenience and hassle of going out of the house, commuting, queuing up to the counter, all while wasting a huge part of the day and possibly exposing themselves to COVID-19.
At the end of the day, the shift to digital banking is inevitable; it's just a matter of time before brick and mortar branches of banks become a thing of the past. The blooming segment of purely digital banks offering high-yield interest savings and free cash transfers is leading the way toward this direction. Until then, traditional banks are out to squeeze every little bit of cash out of all of us.
