The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has revealed plans to explore a stablecoin settlement pilot together with Meridian, which targets remittances and payroll payments.
Payments Evolve
As per local media reports, the BPI is set to partner with Meridian to explore how stablecoins can help specific use cases, including reducing transfer times and cost during cross-border payments and multicurrency salary transfers.
BPI President Jose Teodoro Limcaoco told reporters “billions of pesos” are moved in and out of the Philippines every year. He added that it’s “our responsibility” to ensure citizens’ money “arrives faster, cheaper, and just as securely as it does today.”
Aside from remittances, the project will focus on payroll credits for gig economy / informal workers like freelancers.
Remittances Evolve
The Philippines is one of the largest remittance-receiving countries in the world, with many international workers sending payments back home from countries such as the U.S., Canada, the UAE, Northern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Although its peak was back in 2004, per World Bank data, annual remittance-based transfers remain around 8.4% of the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in terms of payments.
Earlier this year, the nation’s crypto exchange, Coins.ph in the Philippines, announced a stablecoin conversion feature with global remittance providers, particularly helping to swap U.S. dollar stablecoins for local currency PHP stablecoins.
