# Payments in the Philippines: compare PHP collection, wallets and settlement Make Philippine payments easier to evaluate before you integrate. A familiar wallet name is a starting point; the commercial decision depends on the payment journey, the complete cost per transaction and the schedule for receiving your money. PayStar helps you request those details in a comparable form. This guide combines a historical gateway sample with local payment and licensing context. The catalogue figures are statements dated 14 September 2026, not confirmation of today's connections, product approval or available pricing. ## 52 recorded offers: collection and payouts The country-only sample contains 52 unique offer records: 29 for collection and 23 for payouts. Rows repeated through country, currency and method associations are counted once per offer. This is not a count of providers, active integrations or approved merchant routes. GCash, Maya, bank-transfer and QR labels appear in the source. A label does not establish the precise checkout flow, the acquirer behind it, or support for your business. Ask for an illustrated customer journey and the legal name of the contracting provider before comparing commercial terms. ## Percentage fees are only part of the price The mean stated PHP percentage component is 3.24% for collection and 1.35% for payouts. The eligible samples contain 29 and 20 records respectively. Three payout records have no single explicit percentage suitable for this calculation and are excluded. All included records have equal weight. Collection has a median of 3.20% and a 1.00–7.50% range; payouts have a median of 1.125% and a 0.20–2.50% range. These are historical catalogue statistics, not market averages, live prices or a combined collection-and-payout offer. Only locally denominated fees with one raw percentage matching the structured field are included. Fixed charges particularly matter here: positive fixed components appear in five of the 29 eligible collection records and 14 of the 20 eligible payout records. Their amounts are not included in the percentage averages. Also request settlement charges, FX, refund fees, minimum charges, reserves and any taxes. Consider an invented example: A charges 2% + PHP 10; B charges 3%. For PHP 200 the costs are PHP 14 and PHP 6, while for PHP 2,000 they are PHP 50 and PHP 60. Both cost PHP 30 at PHP 1,000. This is hypothetical arithmetic to show the effect of a fixed fee, not an offer from the source. ## Settlement: a label is not a guarantee Of 29 collection records, 17 contain a plain T+0 label, seven T+1, two T+3 and one T+5; two do not state a usable period. The graphic groups matching T/D notation for comparison without assigning a universal definition to those letters. Ask which event starts the clock, the local cutoff, whether days are working or calendar days, and when settled funds can actually be withdrawn. Confirm the beneficiary account, settlement currency and minimum transfer. The timing of the customer's payment and the merchant's contractual settlement schedule can differ. Do not combine a sample average fee with a timing label from another record. Ask the provider to put the complete proposed arrangement in one dated document and explain exception handling, reconciliation and failed payout returns. ## QR Ph, InstaPay QR and recurring payments The distinction matters at checkout: BSP's July 2026 explanation uses QR Ph for person-to-merchant payments and InstaPay QR for person-to-person transfers. Both operate within the interoperable ecosystem, but the use cases are different. Ask for the merchant-payment flow and associated fees rather than assuming that any personal transfer QR is an appropriate checkout. [BSP: QR Ph rebranding FAQ](https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Media_And_Research/Primers%20Faqs/FAQs-QR-Ph-Rebranding.pdf). For subscriptions, ask separately about Direct Debit PH: it supports recurring account-to-account collections based on a customer's formal mandate through participating institutions. Confirm mandate setup, cancellation, failed debit handling and the provider's actual participation; the existence of the scheme does not establish catalogue support. [BSP: Direct Debit PH FAQ](https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Media_And_Research/Primers%20Faqs/FAQs-Direct-Debit.pdf). For payouts, verify account ownership, recipient validation, status callbacks and returned-funds handling. Limit fields appear in 27 of 29 collection records and 21 of 23 payout records. Those heterogeneous fields cannot establish one PHP limit for every method or merchant. ## Conversion: request evidence from your payment journey The source has no comparable measured conversion data. Measure successful payment attempts divided by submitted attempts; separately, measure paid unique orders divided by unique orders with a payment attempt. Specify the time window, device and ticket-size breakdown, and reasons for failure. Separate abandonment from rejection, delayed confirmation and duplicate-notification problems. A wallet's presence in a payment menu does not prove higher conversion. Test app handoffs, return to checkout, QR expiry, pending states and confirmations on the devices your customers use. Agree how retries are counted before comparing percentages across providers. ## Registration, merchant acquisition and prohibited activity Payment-system operator registration and a Merchant Acquisition License (MAL) are different requirements. Under BSP's Circular 1198 framework, an OPS engaging in merchant acquisition needs the relevant MAL; the actual activity determines the requirement, not the label “gateway”. Verify the contracting entity, registered role and authorisation for the service proposed. [BSP: Circular 1198 FAQ](https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Regulations/Issuances/2024/1198%20-%20FAQ.pdf), [BSP payment-system resources](https://www.bsp.gov.ph/SitePages/PaymentsAndSettlements/PaymentsAndSettlements.aspx). The Anti-POGO Act of 2025, Republic Act 12312, bans offshore gaming operations in the Philippines. A historical payment record or foreign licence does not create permission for those activities. [Supreme Court: current Anti-POGO implementation](https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/sc-approves-rule-on-civil-forfeiture-of-pogo-related-assets/). BSP's August 2025 memorandum separately directed supervised institutions to remove in-app access to gambling sites while policy standards were being developed. This concerns in-app access and should not be described as a blanket ban on all payments. Any regulated business needs its own current authorisations and a case-specific review of applicable payment restrictions. [BSP Memorandum M-2025-029](https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Regulations/Issuances/2025/M-2025-029.pdf). Legal sources were reviewed on 30 September 2026; a consultation draft is not treated here as an enacted rule. ## PayStar's role PayStar provides information and technical support. It is not the organiser of payments and does not accept, hold or transfer customer funds. Payment execution and settlement belong to the merchant's separate agreement with the relevant authorised payment provider. PayStar works only with lawful products and with licensed products where licensing is required. This policy does not certify every historical offer or prospective customer. Confirm product permissions, the provider's scope, ownership information and applicable KYC/AML checks before proceeding. ## Get gateway details for the Philippines Tell Anastasia your product, required methods, average transaction amount and expected volume. Request comparable fees and limits, settlement timing and currency, and product/document requirements. Information is free; integration and processing are subject to separate commercial terms. [Get details from Anastasia on Telegram](https://t.me/anastasiapaystar) or [email Anastasia](https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&to=Anastasia%40PayStar.uk&su=Philippines%20payment%20gateway%20details). ## About the data The gateway statements dated 14 September 2026 were supplied without independent verification by PayStar. Terms change weekly or more often and may already be outdated. Figures describe this country-only sample, not market coverage, connected gateways, live availability, full tariffs or an offer to contract. Independent method/currency associations do not establish a route. Reconfirm terms and current law before launch. This is general information, not individual legal advice. Cover artwork is an editorial AI illustration, not a verified documentary view.