The Bangko Sentral ng pilipina (BSP) in a press release said, the pause on the entry of the new electronic money transfer, user non-bank- financial institutions (EMI NBFI) including digital currency exchanges, has been extended to December 15, 2024.

The central bank has also made some adjustments which allow introduction of new business models that incorporate technologies and target branded niches not used before.

The BSP said, "these modalities are intended to modify the landscape in the e-money industry with the entry of new players with new business strategies and technologies, extending focus to the unserved and the underserved markets".

The BSP also added that, applicant who meet the exception and offer a strong value proposition for e-money services may apply through the regulatory sandbox framework under BSP circular No.1153.

The previous two-years timeframe also allow the central bank to carefully study how to selectively lift the ban to weed away the "bad actors" in the EMI sector.

In November 2021, a two-year moratorium was imposed on the issuance of EMI licenses to NBFIs, ensuring that it's resources are managed judiciously in a manner that promotes financial stability and inclusive growth as well as advancing the development innovative electronic money solutions that offer strong value proposition.

However, on December 21, 2023, 44 BSP-licensed EMI-NBFIs and four EMI-NBFI applications were submitted under the sandbox framework in the Philippines

Take note;

the EMI-NBFI players in the country crypto exchange are; Philippine Digital Assets Exchange (PDAX) and mobile payment service, Gcash operator, G-Xchange lnc., Alipay. Philippines and CIS Bayad Center, among others.