Philippines Proposes Payment System Freeze Amid Tightened Crypto Regulations

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has proposed a 12-month freeze on new payment-system operator registrations to review its licensing framework. The central bank aims to conduct a holistic review of its OPS taxonomy, registration process, and licensing framework.

During the suspension period, applications submitted before the pause begins can continue through the BSP's evaluation process. However, the regulator will neither approve nor deny those applications until the 12-month period ends.

The proposed rules also require BSP-supervised institutions providing merchant acquisition services to deal directly with regulated Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) rather than place them behind layered payment facilitators.