BSP pushes tougher rules to bolster payment system

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

December 3, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has proposed amendments to incident management rules and updated business continuity procedures for participants in the Peso Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) payment system as part of efforts to strengthen the resilience of critical financial market infrastructures.

In a draft circular, the central bank said the proposed revisions would reflect changes to section 1401.15 of the Manual of Regulations for Payment Systems. Feedback on the draft is due on Dec. 12.

The BSP said the changes recognize the crucial role of the RTGS system in maintaining stability and continuity in financial markets.

Under the proposed section, “the participants of the Peso RTGS Payment System shall manage incidents in collaboration with the BSP.”

Participants will be required to conduct technical investigations on issues related to “system access, report generation, transaction monitoring, receipt of settlement notifications and other relevant incidents.”

The draft also sets differentiated reporting timelines. Cyberattacks or similar disruptive incidents must be reported immediately, while other incidents that remain unresolved after two hours must be reported “two hours from occurrence.”

To avoid settlement delays, the BSP is mandating participants to adopt alternative mechanisms during disruptions. Banks and financial institutions may use bilateral netting, appoint paying agents or invoke their business continuity plans.

The draft notes that bilateral netting “refers to the offsetting of obligations between two parties, thereby reducing the number and value of payments or deliveries needed to settle a set of transactions.”

For financial market infrastructures and clearing switch operators, multilateral netting may be applied, while joint business continuity plans with the BSP may also be activated.

Participants must also ensure full coordination with the central bank during incidents. They are required to “make available any assistance and resources expected on their end to contribute to efficient problem resolution” and update the BSP “as soon as the problem has been addressed”.

Attached to the memo is an updated Business Continuity Plan for institutions with settlement accounts, outlining procedures for situations where the participant loses connectivity or when PhilPaSSplus itself becomes unavailable.

If a participant is unable to connect to the RTGS system, it may upload transactions through the nearest BSP facility. The participant must send three registered users — “one operator, one approver, and one sender” — to complete the process.

Should physical access be impossible due to weather or safety issues, the BSP may authorize on-behalf uploading. In this case, the participant will submit password-protected files to a secure cloud facility, advise the BSP of the password through a secure channel and allow the central bank to upload the transactions.

If PhilPaSSplus itself is down, the BSP will notify participants and direct them to upload password-protected files. The Payments and Settlements Department will then “directly post the uploaded transactions to the Bangko Sentral General Ledger System” using an alternative transaction upload facility, followed by email confirmation of settled transactions.