E-Money in the Philippines: What Is E-Money?

I'm off to Bacolod on Monday to give a short presentation about electronic money. And I thought I'd get myself all primed up by posting a bit on what I will be sharing there. I provided a short perspective about e-money in the Philippines in my previous post here, and now I would like to start going deeper into the subject by defining what is considered e-money in the Philippines.

E-money in the Philippines is defined as monetary value that is:

1. Stored in an electronic device or instrument; and

2. Issued in exchange for an equal amount of cash (or sometimes less, if there are charges involved, but greater than the amount received); and

3. Acceptable as a means of payment to the issuer and other merchants; and

4. Withdrawable in cash and other cash forms; and

5. Have complied with the requirements of Circular 649 of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) which is the Philippine central bank.

What are the implications of this definition? If you are an issuer (meaning, you accept cash in exchange for e-money), then you must ensure that the e-money you are issuing complies with BSP guidelines.

On the other hand, if you are an e-money holder (you've exchanged your cash for e-money), then you should be aware of the various features of the e-money that you have, including those that the BSP required for certain reasons.

Next time, we'll discuss some of the types of e-money. Do leave your comments and questions to liven up the discussion.

Wish me well on my presentation!