BSP will make the national payments system 24/7 in 2026

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will extend the operating hours of the Philippine Payment and Settlement System (PhilPaSS) Plus to 24 hours a day, seven days a week beginning 2026.

BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan said the system is already 24/7 ready and the rollout will expand operating hours beyond the current 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. on weekdays. The move is part of a plan to build a round-the-clock real-time gross settlement system that supports instant domestic transfers, links with foreign payment networks, and enables services such as 24/7 remittances, cross-border ecommerce flows, and same-day settlement of the cash leg in bond trades.

The BSP is coordinating with banks, quasi-banks, e-money issuers, market infrastructures, and clearing switch operators to design the new setup, while also adding automated intraday liquidity tools and liquidity-saving mechanisms to improve settlement efficiency. Economists say the shift can lift consumer spending, speed up cash turnover for MSMEs and digital workers, and expand financial inclusion, while warning that increased uptime raises cybersecurity risk and will require strong real-time monitoring. Total PhilPaSS Plus transaction value reached P151.253 trillion in the third quarter, up nearly 21 percent year on year.