Overview
- The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas published an exposure draft on Monday, September 7, 2026, that would pause new registrations for Operators of Payment Systems for 12 months and is open for public comment.
- If finalized as drafted the circular would take effect 15 days after publication and leave pending OPS applications under review but without approvals or denials during the suspension period.
- Entities wanting to run OPS activities during the pause would need prior BSP authorization under the draft, which also empowers supervisors to impose risk‑based transaction, settlement and exposure limits.
- The proposal would tighten rules for virtual asset service providers by requiring direct merchant arrangements with acquiring institutions, stronger due diligence, and phased reviews of layered intermediary structures with six months to assess and six months to remediate.
- The draft would create a centralized National QR Code Merchant Database to improve merchant traceability and targets banks, e‑money issuers and payment facilitators; stakeholders say the move could slow formal crypto integration in Philippine payment rails while the BSP reviews feedback and may revise the rules.