MANILA - Many large Philippine banks are set to resume charging for online transactions using Instapay among others, as early as next month, the head of a banking industry group said on Wednesday.

BPI president and CEO Cezar Consing, who also heads the Bankers Association of the Philippines, said that by October some banks will again charge clients for online transfers.

"I think what is happening now, some banks will be charging from October 1, some banks will continue to waive fees until the end of the year. But eventually, we will have to go back to charging fees," Consing said.

• BPI waives select money transfer fees via mobile app until Sept. 30
• UCPB extends free fund transfers via InstaPay, PESONet until Dec. 31

InstaPay lets banking clients transfer up to P50,000 per transaction, which is credited instantly to the recipient’s account in any local bank.

Money transfers through PESONet have no transaction limit per day. The money is also credited to the recipient's account on the same banking day, subject to the cut-off time.

The waiver of the fees was initially done voluntarily. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas however later urged all entities under its regulation to waive such fees to encourage the public to use online banking amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Consing says even with the return of such fees, BPI expects customers to continue favoring digital transactions.

The share of digital transactions at BPI was at 78 percent before the COVID-19 lockdowns were imposed. This went up to 95 percent during the enhanced community quarantine, and slid to 92 percent post-ECQ, he said.

• LIST: Updated list of banks, e-money issuers with waived PesoNet, InstaPay fees