The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has partially suspended DCPay Philippines Inc., the operator of the Coins.ph e-wallet, from receiving inbound transfers through the InstaPay and PESONet payment networks. Coins.ph users can no longer add funds to their wallets from other banks or e-wallets while the suspension is in effect.
The Monetary Board issued the order under Resolution No. 839. Philippine Payments Management Inc. (PPMI) sent an advisory to financial institutions directing immediate implementation across the national payment network. The order blocks incoming credit transfers to DCPay through both InstaPay and PESONet.
Transfers from banks such as BDO, BPI and UnionBank, and from e-wallets such as GCash and Maya, are being rejected. Personal QR code transfers and inbound InstaPay for Business processing are also suspended. Coins.ph’s service status page lists InstaPay Cash In and PESONet Cash In as “Under Maintenance.” On Tuesday, the app and website began showing a notice about the temporary suspension of cash-ins and cash-outs.
Individuals and businesses that use Coins.ph personal QR codes or InstaPay for Business to receive money from external bank accounts cannot process those inbound transfers until the central bank lifts the suspension.
What remains available
The advisory permits DCPay to continue processing outbound transfers, so users can still move funds from Coins.ph to external bank accounts. Coins.ph separately said it had temporarily halted all peso cash movements on its platform, including cash-outs, to carry out technical and operational adjustments. The company said it would resume outbound transfers by Wednesday noon, while inbound transfers remain restricted.
Account holders can still scan QRPh codes in stores. Person-to-merchant transactions are exempt from the directive, so users can continue to spend existing peso and cryptocurrency balances at participating merchants.
Two licensed entities
Coins.ph operates through two separately licensed companies. DCPay holds the BSP electronic money issuer license and handles peso wallet services. Betur Inc. holds a virtual asset service provider license covering crypto trading and custody. Coins.ph has held its BSP virtual asset license since 2017.
The suspension applies to DCPay. Betur’s crypto trading is not covered by the order. However, users cannot fund crypto purchases through local bank transfers because inbound peso transfers are paused.
Reason and duration not stated
The PPMI advisory did not state a reason for the suspension, and the BSP has not yet published an explanation. No date for lifting the suspension has been announced.
Coins says it serves more than 18 million users and holds both virtual currency and electronic money issuer licenses from the BSP. InstaPay and PESONet are the country’s main retail payment networks.
