BSP guarantees a smooth combination of currency and electronic money – Manila Bulletin

The reorganization of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) digital money and currency sector will ensure that the two payment systems continue to coexist seamlessly until the country is a completely cashless society, according to BSP officials.

“My own forecast is that the use of old money will slowly disappear as the use of digital payment develops. If there will be a cashless society, that is possible, but not in my lifetime, “said BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno on Wednesday during his virtual” GBED Talks. ” He has said that his personal goal is to have a cashless society in which 50 percent of all payment transactions are digital before his term as the fifth BSP governor ends in mid-2023.

To prepare for the next two years and a cashless payments environment, the BSP has recently reorganized its currency management sector into a currency and payments management sector (PCMS) for a well-functioning cash and payments ecosystem.

Diokno said that the creation of PCMS aims to guarantee the security, efficiency and reliability of the payment system in the country. “There have been well-documented benefits (in) electronic payments. An empirical study revealed that moving to a cashless model would have an impact of one percentage point on annual GDP among mature economies and more than three percentage points in emerging economies, ”he said.

PCMS, which consolidates existing currency and payment management units, is also responsible for banknotes, coins, gold refining and printing of national ID cards. Currently, the BSP is in the process of building a 30-hectare coin production facility in Tarlac, which is expected to be completed around the same time as half of the payment transactions will be electronic payments or digital currency.

In addition to all the other functions that previously relied on the currency management industry, the new PCMS will also handle the licensing and oversight of payment system operators, and will formulate strategies and policies for the payment and currency systems. , including digital payment transformation and currency forecasting. The operations of the Philippine Settlement and Payment System and the administration of the digital Personal Capital Retirement Account will also be handled by the PCMS.

The Monetary Board, chaired by Diokno, created the position of fourth deputy governor of the BSP two weeks ago and hired an expert in digital financial services, Mamerto E. Tangonan, as head of PCMS with the appointment of deputy governor. This is the first time that a BSP outsider has been appointed Lieutenant Governor.

Tangonan said his job is to introduce additional payment streams in the next two years, starting with the full roll-out of the QRPh for people-to-merchant payments, followed by the bill payment service and the payment request service.

As previously announced by Diokno, these payments digitization initiatives will be rolled out successively. The QRPh for P2M payments is expected to have a full launch in July this year.

While Tangonan is touted as having “28 years of experience in digital and traditional financial services, telecommunications, technology, financial inclusion and consulting services,” leading the foreign exchange management sector at the BSP has traditionally been an inside job, as it was a large company involving the production of foreign exchange and securities, and foreign exchange management operations.

In other central banks, the payor usually has a managing director or equivalent position. The position of lieutenant governor is always reserved for monetary policy, banking supervision, and corporate services.