MANILA – Currency and government securities transactions have been suspended Tuesday, the first day of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine aimed to address the rise of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases.
This was disclosed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) citing a report from the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP).
The central bank said operating hours of the Philippine Payment and Settlement System (PhilPaSS) will only be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
According to the BSP website, PhilPaSS, which is the real-time gross settlement system owned and operated by the central bank, “automatically stops receiving electronic payment instruction messages from the participating banks at 5:45 p.m.”
Transactions covered by PhilPaSS include those of automated teller machines (ATMs), the clearinghouses namely PESONet and InstaPay, checks and urgent fund transfers requested by banks for corporates, and trading with the BSP Financial Market Operations Sub Sector, if any.
PESONet and InstaPay are the two real-time electronic payment systems under the BSP’s National Retail Payment System (NRPS), which is put in place to increase digital payment transactions in the country. (PNA)
