#interbank transfer fees

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) clarified that it never required banks and e-wallets to waive digital fund transfer fees, despite issuing Circular No. 1238 to make transfer fees reflect actual costs. BSP implemented Circular 1238 last July 4, 2026, requiring that any gap between intrabank and interbank transfer fees only reflect the cost of routing a transaction through a payment network. BSP pegs this cost, called the "switch cost," at P1.50, meaning banks with free intrabank transfers should charge no more than P1.50 for interbank ones. Since then, several banks have gone ahead and made interbank transfers free entirely, with most of the country's top 20 financial institutions already complying. “Compliance does not require zero fees, nor does it limit off-us P2P electronic fund transfer fees to switch cost alone, and FAQ No. BDO Unibank has removed transfer fees for InstaPay and PESONet transactions made through the BDO Online and BDO Pay apps. The move follows the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) new rules on interbank transfer charges. Read more in our articles including "BSP clarifies bank transfers need not be free" and "BDO waives InstaPay, PESONet transfer fees".