Philippines Freezes New Payment Operator Registrations Amid Tightened VASP Controls

The Philippines' central bank has proposed freezing new payment-system operator registrations for 12 months while imposing tighter controls on payment arrangements involving virtual asset service providers (VASPs).

Under a draft circular, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) would suspend acceptance and processing of applications for operators of payment systems (OPS) to conduct a 'holistic review' of its taxonomy and licensing framework.

The proposal would require BSP-supervised institutions offering merchant acquisition services to handle regulated VASPs through direct merchant arrangements, subject to enhanced due diligence and monitoring, transaction and settlement limits, and other risk-based controls.