The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is making significant strides in resolving online financial complaints, with an 83% success rate.
This comes as the central bank gears up to implement a new anti-scam law designed to enhance consumer protection in the digital realm.
The BSP’s mediation efforts have seen a substantial increase. According to BSP managing director Charina de Vera-Yap, mediation cases handled by the central bank more than doubled to 703 in 2024, up from 322 the previous year. Over the same period, the resolution success rate jumped from 69% to 83%.
In the first five months of 2025 alone, the BSP has already received 400 new cases.
De Vera-Yap clarified that these figures represent only disputes formally escalated to the central bank. She noted that many cases are typically resolved directly by financial institutions, stating,
“The first level of recourse when making a complaint is your financial institution. We assume many are resolved at that level.”
The rise in digital transaction-related complaints underscores the urgency of implementing the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA).
This crucial law, signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in July 2024, specifically targets online fraud schemes like phishing and voice phishing (vishing), which deceive users into revealing sensitive personal and banking information.
BSP deputy governor Elmore Capule announced that the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for AFASA have been finalized and will take effect on June 25, 2025.
Financial institutions will have a one-year grace period to comply with the updated security protocols. These new measures include the implementation of stronger authentication systems that go beyond the commonly used one-time passwords (OTPs).
Capule issued a stern warning to institutions that fail to meet these new requirements:
