MANILA (UPDATE) - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Philippine Payments Management Inc on Monday launched the multiple batch settlement (MBS) facility of the PESONet electronic fund transfer.

PESONet is the electronic fund transfer under the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) for transactions above P50,000.

Starting Jan. 24, MBS increased PESONet's daily batch settlement to 2 cycles in a banking day from the previous one batch settlement at the end of a banking day, the BSP said in a statement.

“This new feature enhances the user experience as it allows faster crediting of funds to the recipient’s account," BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said.

"PESONet MBS allows for better risk management for participating banks and electronic money issuers as settlement of transactions may be divided within two cycles in a banking day,” he added.

This also sought to address the demand of the business community for shorter clearing intervals, the BSP said.

Person-to-government payments via the eGov Pay portal will also be improved, it added.

“With PESONet MBS, businesses can manage their cashflows better. For example, a business can ensure timely crediting of payroll funds since PESONet MBS allows the transfer of funds and the receipt of the same by employees within the same banking day,” Diokno said.

“Since funds are made available earlier, PESONet MBS can cut production cycle time that boosts economic productivity," he added.

Unionbank’s Justo Ortiz, who also sits as Chairman of the Philippine Payments Management Inc. or PPMI, said MBS was a game changer.

"With today’s launch of multi-batch settlement, we expect adoption to accelerate as this means customers can receive funds within the day instead of at the end of the day. This will pave the way for settlements to be done twice a day and so customers can receive funds more efficiently and in a more time sensitive manner, multiple times in a day," Ortiz said.

He said this will pave the way for PESONet to become the payment option of choice for individuals, corporations, and the government.

"Multi-batch settlement makes for a more competitive PESONet,” he added.

Raymond Estioko, BSP Senior Director meanwhile said banks need to adhere to BSP cybersecurity regulations.

"For the participating institutions, they have to follow or adhere to the BSP regulations as far as security or the cybersecurity management is concerned. So we do this in parallel, that while we enhance the payment services, the banks should adhere to the BSP standards of cybersecurity,” Estioko said.

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Other digital initiatives are also likely to benefit from the MBS such as the Social Security System's digital disbursements coursed through PESONet, Diokno said.

In 2021, SSS disbursements coursed through PESONet reached P158.47 billion, he said.

- With a report from Warren de Guzman, ABS-CBN News

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