Wise gets access to InstaPay, boosting real-time transfers

GLOBAL cross-border payments platform Wise now has access to real-time electronic fund transfer service InstaPay and can now settle directly with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) gross payment system PhilPaSS Plus, it said on Monday, allowing for faster transactions.

With this, Wise now has six direct connections to domestic payments systems globally, it said in a statement.

“We realized, and especially for Wise as a global company, two of the main pillars that we would want to push in the Philippines would be — which are solved by InstaPay — speed and cost,” Wise Philippines Country Manager Areson I. Cuevas told BusinessWorld.

“In less than 20 seconds, the recipient in the Philippines should be able to get the payment. Before InstaPay, it wasn’t instant. But right now, especially if the transaction is covered by the InstaPay limit of P50,000, that’s going to be instant,” Mr. Cuevas said.

The direct connection to InstaPay will also help reduce their costs, he added.

“InstaPay has a low-cost model, but we still have to pay them, which means we can route payments to the Philippines at a much lower cost structure,” he said.

Partnering with InstaPay no longer requires Wise to partner with banks and will also let their customers send funds to other participants of the automated clearing house, he added.

“Right now that we are already sending payments by InstaPay, we no longer have to rely on a sponsor bank to sponsor our payments. We are doing it directly by PhilPaSS … which helps reduce the cost and make transactions faster,” Mr. Cuevas said.

“If you’re an InstaPay participant, it supports the BSP’s call to avoid bilateral agreements with banks to make repayments. So, it levels the playing field. So, it makes us level with other banks,” he said.

In May, Wise entered the Philippine market with the launch of its products Wise Account and Wise Prepaid Card.

Wise Philippines was able to settle its first InstaPay transaction in August via PhilPaSS Plus, Mr. Cuevas said.

They expect the direct InstaPay integration to boost demand for real-time transfers, he added.

Wise has an average transaction fee of 0.62%.

With transactions completed in less than a minute, Wise customers can withdraw or move their funds fast, the company said.

This will also allow them to quickly top up their Wise Account and Wise Card transactions via bank transfers or electronic wallets.

The total value of transactions done through InstaPay jumped by 44.8% to P5.14 trillion as of September from P3.55 trillion a year prior.

In terms of volume, InstaPay transactions stood at 974.4 million in the first nine months, soaring by 70.6% from 571.1 million the previous year.

PESONet and InstaPay are automated clearing houses launched in December 2015 under the BSP’s National Retail Payment System framework.

InstaPay is a real-time, low-value electronic fund transfer facility for transactions up to P50,000 and is mostly used for remittances and e-commerce. — A.M.C. Sy