Updated: May 15, 2019
Mobile and internet banking is fast and convenient. You can pay your bills, invest online, and of course – transfer funds electronically to other people.
However, there’s a limitation that you can only send and receive money from accounts of the same bank.
If you have a BDO account, then you cannot electronically send money to your friend’s Security Bank account and have them receive it in real time. (This specific case is possible, but it takes 1 business day and comes with fees)
Or if you’re an online seller with a Metrobank account, your customers cannot send money and pay you instantly if they buy from your store, by simply transferring money online from their China Bank account.
But all this is a thing of the past, because it is already possible. You can now transfer money to other banks, thanks to InstaPay.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has launched InstaPay, the latest automated clearing house (ACH) under the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) Framework.
What is InstaPay?
InstaPay is an electronic fund transfer (EFT) service that allows customers to transfer PHP funds almost instantly between accounts of participating BSP-supervised banks and non-bank e-money issuers in the Philippines.
Individuals, businesses, and government institutions will be able to send and receive funds or make payments in real time of up to PHP50,000 per transaction, without limit. The service is available 24×7, all year round.
Who can use InstaPay?
Customers of InstaPay participating institutions with savings, current, or e-money accounts (with or without ATM/debit cards) can use InstaPay for sending and/or receiving fund transfers.
Users of Instapay may be individuals, businesses, or government agencies.
Why would one use InstaPay?
Customers may choose to use InstaPay when they want to transfer funds electronically and make the funds available to their recipient immediately.
How does one use InstaPay?
To send funds via InstaPay, customers need to access their bank’s or e-money issuer’s mobile app or internet banking facility. Then they can choose to send to another institution via InstaPay, and provide the required information.
Some participating institutions provide a transaction receipt to notify the sender that the transfer is successful.
At the minimum, the sender needs to identify the bank or non-bank e-money issuer where the receiving account is maintained, the account number of the receiver, and the amount to be transferred.
To receive funds via InstaPay, customers don’t need to do anything but they can verify if their account has been credited with the funds transferred by accessing their bank’s or non-bank e-money issuer’s mobile app or internet banking facility.
Some participating institutions provide SMS or email notification upon receipt of funds.
Are there charges for using InstaPay?
The transferred funds are instantly received in full as no fee is charged for the electronic crediting of funds to the receiving party’s account in InstaPay participating institutions.
Charges may however apply to sending parties. Recipients may also be charged for cash withdrawals.
Can InstaPay be used to transfer funds to an account overseas?
No, InstaPay is only available for PHP fund transfers between accounts maintained in the Philippines with InstaPay participating institutions.
Can InstaPay be used to transfer funds from an InstaPay participating institution to a non-participating institution?
No, InstaPay can only be used to transfer between accounts maintained with InstaPay participating institutions.
Which are the InstaPay participating institutions?
As of March 31, 2019, the InstaPay participating institutions are:
SENDING & RECEIVING
- Asia United Bank
- Bank of Commerce
- BDO Unibank
- China Banking Corporation
- China Bank Savings
- Dungganon Bank (A Microfinance Rural Bank), Inc.
- East West Banking Corporation
- Equicom Savings Bank
- G-Xchange, Inc.
- Land Bank of the Philippines
- Malayan Bank Savings and Mortgage Bank, Inc.
- Maybank Philippines, Inc.
- Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company
- Philippine Bank of Communications
- Philippine National Bank
- Philippine Savings Bank
- PNB Savings Bank
- RCBC Savings Bank, Inc.
- Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation
- Robinsons Bank Corporation
- Security Bank
- Sun Savings Bank, Inc.
- Unionbank of the Philippines
- United Coconut Planters Bank
RECEIVING ONLY
- Bank of the Philippine Islands
- CTBC Bank (Philippines) Corporation
- Development Bank of the Philippines
- Isla Bank (A Thrift Bank), Inc.
- OmniPay, Inc.
- Partner Rural Bank (Cotabato), Inc.
- PayMaya Philippines, Inc.
- Philippine Business Bank, Inc., A Savings Bank
- Philippine Trust Company
- Philippine Veterans Bank
- Sterling Bank of Asia, Inc. (A Savings Bank)
- UCPB Savings Bank, Inc.
- Yuanta Savings Bank Philippines, Inc.
More banks are already lined up to activate their InstaPay participation in the coming months. Please check the BSP website to get regular updates on the participating institutions. You can also download the InstaPay Fact Sheet here.
Watch the InstaPay video primer below:
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Wow this great news for online entreps and sellers. tnx for sharing Fitz
This is a good news!!!
I am about to transfer an amount from my metrobank savings using instapay on my mobile app to my securitybank account. Is it posible??
Instapay eh change it to not instant pay transferred from bdo to security charged 100 but still no fund o e day still waiting bull crap
using online banking.Can i transfer money from my metrobank to RCBC?
Hi Fitz,
This is very informative, I used to easily transfer from bdo to rcbc (checking acct) and recently I’m unable to transfer funds to rcbc. I noticed from the banks options, there used to be rcbc 16-digit and now it’s only 15-digit. Or is it because my account is not savings?
Appreciate your reply. Thanks
i transfer money from my east west account to union bank account but i didn’t recieve the money i transferred and when i check my balance it already deducted