BSP Clarifies Who Should Register as a Bills Payment Service

February 26, 2020 – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) clarifies the definition of a payment system operator so as to also shed light on which institutions provide the bills payment services and which ones must register as an operator of the payment system (OPS).

The National Payment Systems Act (NPSA) defines a payment system” as the system “providing the channel through which funds are transferred among banks and other institutions to discharge payment obligations.”

In the recent Memorandum No. M-2020-004 released by the BSP, it said that under the guidelines of the National Payment Systems Act and the BSP Circular No. 1049, all BSP-supervised institutions that offer bills payment, as well as those who perform services resulting to becoming a provider of such services are considered as operator of payment systems (OPS), which means they must register with the BSP as one.

However, if they merely tap the service of other companies that are OPS, then they are not required to register as one:

“If the delivery of the bills payment service is made by the BSFI (BSP-supervided financial institution) thru an arrangement where the BSFI merely acts as an agent of the operator of the bills payment service, the latter as operator is the entity required to register with the BSP as an OPS, and not the BSFI that is acting as an agent” – BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier

The NPSA mandates that the BSP oversees the payment systems in the Philippines. In 2019, the monetary authority simpified the registration processes of OPS with the goal of making it easier to do business in the country. This is through the Circular No. 1049 series of 2019, which details the simplified registration process.

There are currently 67 Operators of Payment Systems with Provisional Certificate of Registration.

Access the Memorandum No. M-2020-004 here.

This article is published on BitPinas: BSP Clarifies Who Should Register as a Bills Payment Service