Wise granted direct access to Philippines’ instant payments infrastructure, gets settlement account with BSP

• The direct connection to InstaPay marks Wise’s sixth connection to domestic payment systems around the world; 

• Enables instant (under 20 seconds) payments to PHP and provides more convenient funding methods for Filipino customers spending and sending money

Manila, Philippines | 4 November 2024 — Wise, the global technology company building the best way to move and manage the world’s money has been granted direct access to InstaPay, the Philippines’ real-time payment system, and can also directly settle with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) real-time gross payment system, PhilPaSS Plus. 

Wise has spent the last 14 years building an alternative to traditional correspondent banking. With over 65 licenses globally and now six direct connections to domestic payment systems, this infrastructure enables over 63% of all Wise transactions to be completed instantly (under 20 seconds), with an average fee of 0.62%. 

Wise’s direct connection to InstaPay will enhance the cross-border payment experience for nearly 13 million Wise customers worldwide, and millions more users of some of the world’s largest banks and financial institutions, such as Bank Mandiri, who offer their customers international payments through Wise Platform. The benefits include:  

• Instant transactions when sending up to 50K Pesos from 28 currencies: Wise customers worldwide, including customers of Wise Platform partners, can now send up to 50,000 PHP (InstaPay’s limit) to the Philippines instantly. Customers can still send larger sums, and while these won’t be processed via InstaPay, 94% of all transactions on Wise arrive in 24 hours. 

• Fast and convenient withdrawals: Wise customers in the Philippines moving funds from their Wise account to their local banks or e-wallets will see the money arriving in under 20 seconds.

• Seamless top-ups for the Wise account and card in the Philippines: Filipino customers can now fund their Wise account and Wise card transactions quickly, affordably, and conveniently via bank transfers or e-wallets. This feature broadens access to the Wise Account, making it even easier for people to send and spend globally with Wise’s competitive exchange rate and low fees.

• Helping Wise Platform partners deliver efficient payment experiences: Providing Wise Platform partners quicker, cheaper, and more reliable payouts to the Philippines with high straight-through processing rates. 

Wise has continued to invest in building direct connections to payment systems starting with the UK in 2018 where Wise was the first non-bank to connect to the Faster Payment System (FPS). That set the precedent for Wise to be granted direct access to payment systems in the EU in 2020, as well as Singapore and Australia in 2021. Last month, Wise also received approval to join Japan’s domestic payment network, Zengin, and secured a Payment Institution licence to connect directly to Brazil’s instant payment system PIX.

Areson Cuevas, Country Manager for Wise Philippines said: “Six months after launching the Wise account and prepaid card in the Philippines, we’re excited to be directly connected to InstaPay and to directly settle with PhilPaSSPlus. This milestone, following our successful direct integrations into five other payment systems worldwide, marks a significant step forward in our mission to make international payments faster, cheaper, and more convenient for our Filipino customers, and our Wise Platform partners.”