Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has begun testing a stablecoin-based payment rail designed to cut the cost and waiting time for overseas remittances sent to Filipinos, particularly freelancers, virtual assistants and other workers earning income from abroad.
The Ayala-led lender is running a pilot scheme with global digital clearinghouse Meridian, according to local reports from ABS-CBN and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Under the trial, inbound international payments are settled using stablecoins before being converted into Philippine pesos and credited to customers’ BPI accounts.
Initially, the project will cover payroll and overseas earnings for freelancers, virtual assistants and informal-sector workers. BPI intends to widen access to more customer segments ahead of the 49th ASEAN Summit in November, when the bank plans to present the initiative as part of its broader digital banking push.
Stablecoins used only for settlement
Rather than replacing existing banking rails, the new system inserts stablecoins as a settlement layer between the sender and the recipient bank. Once the transfer is finalised on the stablecoin network, the recipient does not handle crypto directly, instead receiving pesos in their BPI account under the bank’s usual safeguards.
BPI President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Teodoro Limcaoco said the pilot forms part of the bank’s continuing digitalisation programme. He stressed that the objective is to help Filipinos who receive money from overseas gain access to their funds more quickly and at a lower cost, while preserving existing security and risk standards.
Meridian President and Chief Executive Officer Will Haering said the tie-up shows how stablecoin technology can be woven into the traditional banking system without sacrificing reliability or customer protection.
BPI added that the trial is being carried out in coordination with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Any move from pilot to full rollout will depend on regulatory comfort, including rules on consumer protection and transparency around the reserves backing the stablecoins used.
Regulators tighten oversight of digital assets
The launch comes as Philippine regulators continue to refine the rulebook for digital assets, tokenisation and stablecoin-related services.
In June, the BSP introduced stricter standards for licensed virtual asset service providers (VASPs). Exchanges and other providers were instructed to strengthen due diligence before listing any cryptocurrency, assessing factors such as the issuer’s background, market maturity, transparency, liquidity, legal compliance and practical use cases.
The central bank also sharpened its focus on fiat-backed and asset-backed stablecoins. Its guidance said providers may need to scrutinise reserve composition, users’ redemption rights, token issuance and burning mechanisms, and the quality of backing assets to ensure customers can redeem tokens under normal market conditions. BSP rules require continuous monitoring of listed assets and maintain an existing ban on privacy coins for licensed VASPs.
SEC tests tokenised products in sandbox
In parallel, the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has continued to use its Strategic Regulatory Sandbox, known as StratBox, to test digital asset products under close supervision.
Speaking at Philippine Blockchain Week in June, SEC Commissioner Rogelio Quevedo said the regulator had grown confident that the country’s current legal framework can accommodate tokenised assets. He stressed that participation in the sandbox does not exempt firms from existing laws.
According to the SEC, four companies have so far entered StratBox, including a tokenised real estate project and firms piloting investment products linked to U.S. equities. BlockShoals Technologies also obtained approval to experiment with crypto-related services in the programme.
Earlier this month, the SEC granted BlockShoals final clearance to start StratBox testing with Binance as its global crypto-asset service provider partner. The BSP later clarified that neither BlockShoals nor Binance holds a Philippine VASP licence, and underlined that joining the SEC sandbox does not replace separate licensing requirements overseen by the central bank.
Growing role for stablecoins in Philippine payments
BPI’s experiment adds to the Philippines’ expanding use of stablecoin technology in payments and settlements.
In 2024, local cryptocurrency exchange Coins.ph extended its peso-backed PHPC stablecoin to the Ronin blockchain, enabling users to move funds and spend gaming-related earnings more easily within the country. PHPC, an Ethereum-based stablecoin, is backed one-to-one by the Philippine peso, with Coins.ph maintaining reserves consisting of cash and other traditional financial instruments.
While PHPC is aimed at blockchain-native use cases, BPI’s pilot focuses on cross-border settlements channeled through the regulated banking system. If successful, the initiative could offer overseas workers, freelancers, virtual assistants and other foreign income earners a faster settlement option, while keeping their transactions within the country’s supervised financial framework.
Any broader rollout, however, will hinge on continued coordination with the BSP and full compliance with regulatory requirements on consumer protection, reserve transparency and the wider safeguards the central bank has outlined for stablecoin-based financial services.
