A lawmaker asks the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to waive online bank transfer fees until the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
In House Resolution 1271, Quezon City Representative Precious Castelo said transfer fees for online banking must be waived “not only until the end of the year, but while the country is battling the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“During this health and economic crisis, the waiver of fees on online banking transactions and other electronic payment services will ease the burden of Filipinos,” she said.
The lawmaker said people nowadays prefer to transact payments online as it is safer than in-person and over-the-counter transactions.
Castelo added the BSP should order all banks and financial facilities under its jurisdiction to waive money transfer fees online.
“There should be universal compliance. We cannot have two or three platforms defying the regulator, while all the others are complying,” she said.
“These are just small fees – P10-P15 per transaction. That’s gravy to companies making billions in annual profits,” she said.
Considering that many of those who transfer money are bank depositors, Castelo said their banks “can very well provide such service to them for free.”
Mobile wallet services PayMaya and GCash earlier moved its collection of bank transfer charges to November 1.
Solon pushes for waiving online bank transfer fees until pandemic ends
The following banks also said they are waiving online bank transfer fees until October 31:
- Asia United Bank Corporation
- Bank of Commerce
- Cebuana Lhuillier Rural Bank
- China Bank Savings, Inc.
- China Banking Corporation
- CIMB Bank Philippines Ink.?Citibank (Free for individual clients)
- CTBC Bank (Philippines) Corporation
- DCPay (for retail clients)
- Development Bank of the Philippines
- East West Banking Corporation
- Equicom Savings Bank, Inc.
- Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (for retail, corporate clients)
- HSBC Savings Bank (for retail, corporate clients)
- ING Bank, N.V.
- Land Bank of the Philippines
- Maybank Philippines Inc. (for retail clients)
- Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company
- Philippine Bank of Communications
- Philippine Business Bank
- Philippine National Bank
- Philippine Savings Bank
- Philippine Veterans Bank
- Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation
- Robinsons Bank Corporation
- Rural Bank of Guinobatan
- Sterling Bank of Asia, Inc.
- Union Bank of the Philippines
- United Coconut Planters Bank