Secretary Go’s latest ‘obsession’
REMOTO CONTROL
FINANCE Secretary Frederick Go has a new obsession — lowering the country’s high digital transaction costs. He is pushing for reforms that would align fees across public and private payment channels and slash charges from their present high levels.
He cites the stark gap between local fees and those in neighboring Asian nations. “There’s one thing I’m obsessing about — the very high digital transaction costs in the Philippines,” Go said. Local transaction fees can soar to as high as P50, while regional peers charge only cents or nothing at all. The usual cost for such transactions is much lower. Pure and simple, this looks like robbery on the highway done by our greedy banks.
Go’s sentiments mirror the recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report, which flagged the country’s astronomical domestic fees. The IMF attributed these higher costs to the Philippines’ fragmented financial infrastructure. Go added, “Our objective is simple: digital payments should be fast, secure, convenient and affordable.”
For him, the ideal cost could be as low as P2, noting that payment operations still incur basic processing fees.
To set the pace, the Department of Finance (DOF) has rolled up its sleeves to work. As chairman of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank), Go added that he did not mince words with the state-run lender’s executives. “I asked them, why are you charging people P15? What is the bare cost to the bank?” he recalled.
That state-run lender turned tail and slashed person-to-person fees from P15 to P8. In addition, LandBank is running a trial offering zero convenience fees for person-to-government transactions for agencies like the Philippine National Police and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
A spark plug
Secretary Go believes this move will spark a chain reaction across the industry. “You only need one of the major players to lower its fees, and competition will follow. Once that happens, convenience fees will come down. I think this will also put pressure on agencies that continue to charge high convenience fees,” he said.
Clearing hidden technical friction is another hurdle. Banks within the domestic financial system must achieve true interoperability. This would allow users to transfer funds across institutions without incurring steep penalties. If digital transactions must have any costs at all, those should be limited to minimal switching fees, Secretary Go noted.
The finance chief added that industry feedback on these measures is being sought. Talks are ongoing among the DOF, the Bankers Association of the Philippines and the Fintech Alliance PH. These efforts are aligned with the central bank’s overarching direction.
Earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas had sought to require operators of payment systems to price fund transfer charges in line with market rates. Under the central bank’s framework, however, initial plans to eliminate fees on small-value fund transfers were shelved.
Secretary Go also wants to lower the remittance costs for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Just as he questioned domestic banking transaction costs, he raised a red flag over average remittance fees that hover around 10 percent. “It’s crazy. Why are we asking our OFWs to give us 10 percent for sending home their money? This is a tax on the blood, sweat and tears of our OFWs,” he said.
Lawmakers have followed suit by pushing for the passage of the OFWs Remittance Protection Act. This aims to reduce remittance fees for OFWs by half to protect them from excessive charges and financial exploitation.
BPI rules the roost
Secretary Frederick Go also welcomed the Bank of the Philippine Islands’ decision to do away with InstaPay and PESONet transfer fees. He said this move builds on the momentum created by the government’s push to make digital transactions more affordable for Filipinos.
The announcement comes weeks after Go, as chairman of the Land Bank of the Philippines, led the state-owned bank’s removal of convenience fees for online government payments through QRPh from June 1 to Dec. 31, 2026. BPI’s move extends that momentum into the private banking sector.
He said, “We welcome BPI’s efforts to make digital transactions free. I have been an advocate for affordable digital banking fees. It is heartwarming to see one of the country’s major banks supporting our shared goal of building a more inclusive digital economy where every Filipino can benefit from greater access to financial services.”
Secretary Go has consistently argued that high transaction fees discourage Filipinos from embracing digital banking, particularly low-value transfers that have become part of everyday financial activity. BPI’s decision makes it the first major Philippine bank to waive InstaPay and PESONet transfer fees for its customers. We hope other banks follow suit and reassess their own pricing for digital transactions.
Coming on the heels of LandBank’s zero-fee QRPh initiative, the development suggests growing alignment between government policy and private-sector efforts to make digital banking more accessible.
Together, the initiatives advance the broader objective of expanding financial inclusion by removing cost barriers that have long discouraged wider use of electronic payments and digital financial services.
These are small steps that show the Philippines is firmly in the 21st century, where business transactions are online, fast and affordable to all.
Danton Remoto is writing a book on the digital economy. His other books are being sold at Fully Booked, National Bookstore, Lazada and Shopee, Central Books; Kinokuniya in Asia; and Amazon globally.