BSP flags unauthorized e-money tie-ups

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June 28, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has warned supervised institutions against extending, sharing or transferring of the authority to offer electronic money services to unlicensed partners, platforms or third-party providers.

In a memorandum, the central bank said all BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) authorized to offer e-money services should ensure that such authority is used only by the entity approved by the regulator.

The memorandum, signed by BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan, covers arrangements involving technology services, platform access, co-branding, partnerships, wallet provisioning, outsourcing and similar structures.

“BSFIs shall not enter into any arrangement that results in another person or entity conducting or appearing to conduct regulated e-money activities without the requisite BSP authority,” the central bank said.

The reminder comes as financial institutions increasingly work with technology firms and other partners to expand digital wallets, online payments and customer-facing financial services.

According to the BSP, these arrangements should comply with Republic Act 11127 or the National Payment Systems Act, the Manual of Regulations for Payment Systems and other applicable licensing, registration, prudential, consumer protection and risk management rules.

In assessing these structures, the BSP said it could consider the actual functions performed by the parties, the allocation of responsibilities and risks, customer-facing representations, control over funds or accounts and whether the arrangement results in another person or entity effectively performing activities that require BSP approval.

The BSP also told supervised institutions to ensure that outsourcing, partnership or third-party arrangements remain consistent with existing rules on governance, risk management, safeguarding of customer funds, liquidity, disclosures, consumer protection and regulatory accountability.