BancNet (also spelled Bancnet) is a Philippine-based

interbank network An interbank network, also known as an ATM consortium or ATM network, is a computer network that enables ATM cards issued by a financial institution that is a member of the network to be used to perform ATM transactions through ATMs that belon ...

connecting the ATM networks of local and offshore banks, and the country's single interbank network in the Philippines in terms of the number of member banks and annual transactions. Due to its status as the country's single ATM switch operator, it is designated by the

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on July 3, 1993, pursuant to the provision of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act ...

(BSP) as the country's national ATM network. BancNet is also the exclusive gateway of China's

UnionPay UnionPay (), also known as China UnionPay () or by its abbreviation, CUP or UPI internationally, is a Chinese state-owned financial services corporation headquartered in Shanghai, China. It provides bank card services and a major card scheme ...

, allowing access to the nearly 1 billion ATM cardholders from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. BancNet is allied with global payment brand

JCB International , formerly Japan Credit Bureau, is a credit card company based in Tokyo, Japan. Its cards are accepted at JCB merchants, and has strategic alliances with Discover Network merchants in the United States, UnionPay merchants in China, American Ex ...

. Through this alliance, JCB cardholders can make cash advances at participating BancNet member ATMs nationwide. Bancnet interconnects with international card networks

Diners Club A diner is a small, inexpensive restaurant found across the United States, as well as in Canada and parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a comb ...

Discover Discover may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Discover'' (album), a Cactus Jack album * ''Discover'' (magazine), an American science magazine Businesses and brands * DISCover, the ''Digital Interactive Systems Corporation'' * Di ...

, KFTC, Mastercard, and

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

. BancNet serves more than 41 million ATM cardholders of its 124 members and affiliates with over 21,000 ATMs and more than 304,000 POS terminals. In 2008,

Expressnet Expressnet is an interbank network connecting the Automatic teller machine, ATM networks of seven major banks in the Philippines. It has the second-largest number of ATMs (largely due to the vast nationwide presence of Bank of the Philippine Is ...

outsourced its ATM operations to BancNet. On January 30, 2015, BancNet and

MegaLink MegaLink (also spelled Megalink) is a Philippine-based developer of mobile and banking software as well as a service provider for banks, specifically for automatic teller machine networks and point of sale systems of banks in the country. Fro ...

announced their merger and will retain itself as its brand. With this and having no more competition, BancNet has become the Philippines' single ATM switch and major cashless transactions and payments network operator.

History

BancNet was founded on July 17, 1990, as the Philippines' second ATM consortium when the ATMs of eight banks, PCI Bank (later

Equitable PCI Bank Equitable PCI Bank, Inc. () was one of the largest banks in the Philippines, being the third-largest bank in terms of assets. It was the largest bank before it was overtaken by Metrobank in 1995. It is the result of the merger of Equitable Bankin ...

, now Banco de Oro),

Security Bank Security Bank Corporation (SBC) is a universal bank in the Philippines. It was established on June 18, 1951, as Security Bank and Trust Company and was the first private and Filipino-controlled bank of the post-World War II period. Security B ...

, Chinabank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, RCBC, Allied Banking Corporation, Allied Bank (now part of Philippine National Bank, PNB), Metrobank (Philippines), Metrobank, International Exchange Bank (now part of Union Bank of the Philippines, UnionBank) and CityTrust Banking Corp. (now part of Bank of the Philippine Islands, BPI) formed BancNet. Other members have since joined. In 1994, BancNet introduced the a point-of-sale system to serve the retail payment requirements of cardholders. In 1997, BancNet started offering website hosting, email and surfing services to member banks at affordable rates. In 2002, BancNet started its online banking and payment gateway system. It was during the anniversary business forum of 2002 that BancNet introduced Interbank Funds Transfer, reportedly the first consortium-run automated transfer facility in the region. The product allows real-time, online transfer of money among the members of BancNet using either the payment gateway, the ATM or a cardholder's cellular phone. A partnership with Globe Telecom, the second largest telecoms company in the Philippines, in 2006 allowed BancNet to expand ATM-like functions to the mobile phones of cardholders. This was followed by a similar agreement in early 2007 with Smart Communications, the dominant telecoms company, for mobile banking. A Memorandum of Agreement was signed in 2007 with Nationlink (interbank network), Nationlink, admitting the latter as the first network alliance member of BancNet. This allows all the rural bank members of Nationlink to enjoy the convenience of electronic banking on 8,000 ATMs and more than 10,000 Point-of-Sale terminals nationwide.

InstaPay

BancNet is the clearing switch operator of real-time electronic funds transfer clearing house InstaPay, one of the two electronic fund transfer services commissioned by the BSP (the other being PesoNet). As of 2022, the service shall be rebranded into ''InstaPay, powered by BancNet''.

Equity members

*Asia United Bank * Banco de Oro *Bank of Commerce *Bank of the Philippine Islands *Chinabank, China Banking Corporation *Citibank Philippines *CTBC Bank, CTBC Bank Philippines *Development Bank of the Philippines *EastWest Bank, EastWest Banking Corporation *Equicom Savings Bank *Land Bank of the Philippines *Metrobank (Philippines), Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company *Philippine Bank of Communications *Philippine Trust Company *Philippine National Bank *Philippine Veterans Bank *Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation *Robinsons Bank, Robinsons Bank Corporation *Security Bank , Security Bank Corporation *Standard Chartered, Standard Chartered Bank Philippines *Sterling Bank of Asia *The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation *Unionbank (Philippines), UnionBank

Other members

*All Bank (formerly Optimum Bank) *Bangko Mabuhay *Bank of Makati *Bankways *Meralco, Bayad (formerly Bayad Center, InstaPay only) *BDO Network Bank (subsidiary of Banco de Oro) *BPI Direct Savings Bank *BPI Family Savings Bank (subsidiary of Bank of the Philippine Islands) *BPI Globe BanKO *Cantilan Bank Inc. *Card Bank, Inc. *CARD SME Bank Inc. *Cebuana Lhuillier Rural Bank *China Bank Savings (subsidiary of China Banking Corporation) *CIMB Bank Philippines *Citibank Philippines, Citibank *City Savings Bank (subsidiary of Union Bank of the Philippines) *Citystate Savings Bank *D'Asian Hills Bank *Gojek, DCPay Philippines Inc. [Coins.PH] (InstaPay only) *Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Bank Philippines *Dumaguete Bank *Dungganon Bank, Inc. *EastWest Rural Bank, Inc. (Doing business as, d.b.a. Komo, a mostly digital bank) *Enterprise Bank, Inc. *Entrepreneur Bank *EON Bank PH (a UnionBank subsidiary) *GCash, GCash Inc. *GoTyme *Grab (company), GrabPay Philippines (InstaPay only) *Isla Bank *JuanCash (InstaPay only) *Katipunan Banking Corporation *Hana Bank, KEB Hanah Bank Manila (formerly Korea Exchange Bank) *Lazada, Lazada Wallet Philippines (applied, for InstaPay only) *Legaspi Savings Bank *Luzon Development Bank *Malayan Savings Bank *Maybank, Maybank Philippines, Inc. *

(as independent ATM deployer) *Metro South Coop Bank *MaxBank *National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) *Opportunity Kauswagan Bank (OK Bank) *Palawan Pawnshop (InstaPay only) *Partner Rural Bank *PayMaya Philippines Inc. (Maya Bank) *PBCOM Rural Bank (formerly Banco Dipolog) *Planbank *Philippine Resources Savings Bank *Philippine Business Bank *Philippine Postal Savings Bank (PostBank) *Philippine Savings Bank (subsidiary of Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company) *Pito AxM Platforms Inc. (a Seven Bank subsidiary) *Producers Bank *Queen City Development Bank *Quezon Capital Rural Bank, Inc. (QCRB) *RCBC Savings Bank (subsidiary of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation) *Rural Bank of Tangub City *Security Bank Savings (subsidiary of Security Bank Corporation) *Shopee, ShopeePay Philippines (InstaPay only) *South Bank, Inc. *Standard Chartered, Standard Chartered Bank Philippines (acquired by EastWest Banking Corporation since 2016) *StarPay (InstaPay only) *Sterling Bank of Asia *Sun Savings Bank *Tonik Bank (InstaPay only, not yet serviceable for incoming bank transfers) *UBX Philippines (i2i Mobile ATM, a UnionBank subsidiary) *Yuanta Savings Bank (formerly Tongyang Savings Bank) *UCPB Savings Bank (subsidiary of United Coconut Planters Bank) *WealthBank *World Partners Bank, Inc. *Zambank

References

External links