Philippines

InstaPay volume tripled in 2025 — the rails have caught up with the wallets

InstaPay value reached P11.55T in 2025 and transaction count tripled to 4.66 billion, on BSP figures summarised by BusinessWorld. The volume jump consolidates a structural shift in retail flow away from over-the-counter remittance pickup toward in-app A2A; BSP's February 2026 directive mandating digital banks and e-wallets settle peso transfers via InstaPay or PESONet rather than proprietary closed loops is the operational complement.

GCash–Maya duopoly carries the 2026 IPO calendar for the region

Mynt-parented GCash reports 86m registered users, Maya 64m, and the implied combined wallet GMV is the largest in ASEAN ex-Indonesia. Mynt's PSE listing has slipped to at least H2 2026 per parent disclosures; Bloomberg reported in February 2026 that Maya is sounding US underwriters for a US$500m–$1bn listing on a US$5bn-plus basis. Pricing on either deal will read as a regional benchmark for super-app-plus-digital-bank multiples.

OFW remittance corridor still the macro anchor and the most contestable retail-FX prize

BSP reported US$38.3bn in 2024 cash remittances from overseas Filipinos, ~8% of GDP and the fourth-largest receipt book globally. US dominates the inflow (US$15bn), with UAE (US$4.2bn), Saudi Arabia (US$2.6bn) and Hong Kong (US$1.8bn) the next tiers. PayNow-PESONet (Singapore) is live; the planned Aani-PESONet (UAE) and Nium- and Remitly-built US stablecoin rails point to sub-3% all-in cost on the major corridors by 2027, but Western Union and BDO Remit still capture cash-out economics on the largest US-side flows.

US$38bn 2024 inflows at average 5.4% cost; PayNow-PESONet (Singapore) live since May 2024, planned Aani-PESONet (UAE) and US-side stablecoin rails (Nium, Remitly) point to sub-3% all-in on the major sending corridors by 2027. Operators bridging cash-out at PHP-side endpoints capture the residual fee pool.

BSP's six digital banks have onboarded the second wave of mass-retail accounts; BSP reopened the licensing window in early 2025 and is expected to approve two more entrants in 2026. Tonik, UnionDigital, GoTyme and the GCash- and Maya-affiliated banks dominate; the next licences are an open lane for foreign-strategic entrants needing PH wallet distribution.

The Philippines is one of five founding-country IPSs in the BIS Nexus blueprint alongside SG, TH, MY and IN. PESONet inter-linking with PromptPay and DuitNow is the natural near-term build once the Nexus Scheme Organisation stands up, and the corridor sits on top of the largest single-origin OFW flows.