Wise Expands Reach with Direct Access to Philippines’ InstaPay

The company revealed in a press release that the integration, along with a direct settlement account with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), will significantly enhance cross-border payment experiences for millions of Wise customers and its platform partners.

Via its direct connection to InstaPay, Wise can now offer instant transfers of up to 50,000 Philippine Pesos from 28 different currencies, enabling faster fund transfers for Filipino customers, both when sending money abroad and receiving funds from overseas.

Furthermore, Wise said customers in the Philippines can utilise faster withdrawals to local banks or e-wallets, as well as top-ups for their Wise accounts and cards.

Wise has continued investing in creating direct connections to payment systems. In 2018, Wise was the first non-bank to connect to the Faster Payment System (FPS) in the UK, setting a precedent for the company to be granted direct access to payment systems in the EU in 2020, as well as Singapore and Australia in 2021.

Last month, Wise gained approval to join Japan’s domestic payment network, Zengin. The company also secured a Payment Institution licence to directly connect to Brazil’s instant payment system PIX.

Areson Cuevas, Country Manager for Wise Philippines, commented: “Six months after launching the Wise account and prepaid card in the Philippines, we’re excited to be directly connected to InstaPay and to directly settle with PhilPaSSPlus.

“This milestone, following our successful direct integrations into five other payment systems worldwide, marks a significant step forward in our mission to make international payments faster, cheaper, and more convenient for our Filipino customers, and our Wise Platform partners.”