The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued guidelines on the settlement of electronic payments (e-payments) under the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) Framework.

“The policy retains existing provisions applicable to instant retail payments while incorporating new provisions relevant to batch settlement of e-payments. This new set of guidelines is expected to strengthen the credit and settlement risk management for batch settlement of electronic payments,” said BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno.

The settlement guidelines provide the responsibilities and minimum requirements to be adhered to by BSP-supervised financial institutions participating in the Automated Clearing Houses (ACH) established under the NRPS, namely, InstaPay and PESONet, as well as the respective Clearing Switch Operators (CSOs) of the ACHs.

Key provisions include requiring clearing participants to maintain a separate demand deposit account (DDA) per settlement mechanism type.

The guidelines also stipulate that CSOs implementing batch settlement of e-payments shall enable clearing participants to effectively monitor the sufficiency of their respective DDA balances for every settlement cycle.

The settlement guidelines are issued to support the implementation of the PESONet Multiple Batch Settlement. This latest digital payments initiative increases the frequency of PESONet batch settlement to two cycles in a banking day, thereby allowing faster clearing and settlement of both personal and business transactions.

The issuance of the guidelines governing the different settlement mechanisms under the NRPS Framework is crucial in the proper implementation of Republic Act No. 11127, or the National Payment Systems Act, which mandates the BSP to ensure that payment systems are operated in a safe, efficient, and reliable manner.​ BSP