The single sharpest fact in one or two punchy sentences. Who did what, where, when, and why it matters. Not a summary of everything — the one thing that makes someone stop scrolling.

The Philippine banking sector has taken a major leap towards digital payment convenience as Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) has announced it will waive most InstaPay fees starting July 4. This move comes after similar fee cuts by Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Land Bank of the Philippines.

RCBC said InstaPay transfers will be free through RCBC Pulz, its main mobile banking app, and RCBC DiskarTech, its financial inclusion app. However, the waiver will not be unlimited for all users. RCBC Pulz customers may make up to 30 free InstaPay transfers per month, with a minimum amount of P100 per transaction. Transfers below P100 or beyond the monthly free allocation will be charged P10.

DiskarTech users, meanwhile, will be able to make free person-to-person InstaPay transfers with no minimum amount and no transaction cap. RCBC’s move follows a circular issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which pushes banks and e-wallets to keep interbank transfer fees close to what they charge for transfers within the same institution.

The BSP circular requires banks to charge a network switch fee for InstaPay transactions, which is about P1.50, according to BPI president and CEO TG Limcaoco. This move is expected to benefit millions of Filipinos who rely on InstaPay transfers for their daily transactions.

But RCBC is facing closer scrutiny over its loan quality. Moody’s Ratings kept RCBC’s Baa3/P-3 foreign-currency deposit ratings, but revised the bank’s outlook to negative from stable, warning that its asset quality could weaken over the next 12 to 18 months. Moody’s cited pressure from unsecured retail loans and small and medium enterprise exposures.

The debt watcher said RCBC’s nonperforming loan ratio rose to 5% as of end-March 2026 from 4.3% a year earlier, while credit costs increased to 2.4% from 1.6%. RCBC, however, said it was entering the second half of the year from a position of “deliberate strength,” while taking steps to protect its balance sheet as it faced “a more challenging macroeconomic environment.”

The bank reduced the average duration of its investment securities portfolio to 3.5 years as of the first quarter of 2026 from 7.3 years in 2021, while also cutting credit lines in higher-risk segments and rolling out an analytics-driven collections program for auto and housing loan clients. The bank also said it had locked in funding through several capital market issuances, including $350 million in offshore sustainability notes in January 2025, P12.21 billion in ASEAN Sustainability Bonds in July 2025, and P20.5 billion in bonds in April 2026.

RCBC said its consolidated gross nonperforming loan ratio stood at 4.8%, while its corporate loan book, its largest segment, had a gross NPL ratio of 2.7%. “We are navigating a complex and shifting macroeconomic landscape. However, we have been building up our defenses, locking in strategic wins, and fundamentally reshaping our balance sheet to drive sustainable, high-quality growth,” Cariaso said.

BPI president and CEO TG Limcaoco commented on the development of InstaPay's switch fee, which is about P1.50.

The Philippine banking sector has been pushing for digital payment convenience, and this move by RCBC is a major step in that direction.

RCBC's move is expected to benefit millions of Filipinos who rely on InstaPay transfers for their daily transactions. This development is a positive step towards digital payment convenience in the Philippines.

Key Facts

• RCBC is making InstaPay transfers free starting July 4 • The waiver applies to up to 30 free InstaPay transfers per month for RCBC Pulz customers, with a minimum amount of P100 per transaction • DiskarTech users will be able to make free person-to-person InstaPay transfers with no minimum amount and no transaction cap • The BSP circular requires banks to charge a network switch fee for InstaPay transactions, which is about P1.50 • RCBC's nonperforming loan ratio rose to 5% as of end-March 2026 from 4.3% a year earlier