Digital money transfers in the Philippines are getting cheaper as banks and e-wallets cut or waive fees to comply with new pricing rules from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The central bank said it expects more financial institutions to lower or scrap person-to-person digital transfer charges after BSP Circular No. 1238 took effect on July 4, and warned it will issue notices to firms that fail to adjust. The regulation requires “reasonable, fair, and market-based” pricing for individual e-payments, particularly for InstaPay and PESONet transactions.

Under the circular, fees for person-to-person e-payments across banks, e-wallets and other payment service providers — so-called off-us transactions — should not be materially different from fees for transfers within the same institution. Any gap between intrabank and interbank rates should reflect only the “switch cost,” or the fee charged by the clearing switch operator to process transfers through a payment network. Financial institutions must also be able to justify their pricing with an analysis of the actual costs of providing these services.

Several major players have already moved to align with the new rules. E-wallet giant GCash reduced its InstaPay transfer fee to 10 pesos from 15 pesos starting July 4, with a per-transaction cap of 50,000 pesos and no minimum amount. Its policies for sending and receiving money between GCash users remain unchanged, with up to 500 free transactions per month and a 5-peso fee for select users once that limit is exceeded. Maya Group said it would likewise trim its InstaPay fee to 10 pesos from 15 pesos by July 6, while keeping PESONet transfers free.

Among traditional lenders, Bank of the Philippine Islands has permanently waived InstaPay and PESONet charges for person-to-person interbank transactions made via its channels starting July 1. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. has begun offering 30 free InstaPay transfers per month via its RCBC Pulz mobile app for transactions of at least 100 pesos, while maintaining a 10-peso PESONet fee; it also offers unlimited free InstaPay transfers through its Diskartech platform, subject to a daily limit of 499,999 pesos. These moves highlight intensifying competition in digital payments as banks, digital banks and e-wallet providers seek to attract and retain users by expanding online services and lowering transaction costs under the BSP’s new fee framework.

Hong Kong’s national security police have arrested the operators of Hunter Bookstore, one of the city’s best-known independent bookshops, in a move that underscores rising pressure on small publishers and retailers carrying titles deemed politically sensitive by authorities. Police said they detained a 33‑year‑old woman and a 32‑year‑old man on June 24 on suspicion of “acts with seditious intention” and handling property believed to represent the proceeds of an indictable offence. Local media identified one of those arrested as former district councillor and Hunter Bookstore founder Winnie Ho, though police did not name the suspects in their official statement.

Officers from the National Security Department searched the Hunter Bookstore premises in Sham Shui Po on Wednesday evening, according to police and local media accounts. More than a dozen officers were reported to have entered the shop, pulling down its metal shutters and removing stickers from the windows, while checking the identities of customers and passers-by. Police said they seized a batch of items, books and documents they described as having “seditious intention,” alleging that materials on display or for sale incited hatred against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, the judiciary and law‑enforcement agencies, in breach of Article 24 of the city’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.

Authorities also said the two suspects were believed to have received multiple remittances from foreign political organisations, and indicated they are investigating potential violations of Hong Kong’s Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance. Convictions for acts with seditious intent can carry sentences of up to seven years in prison, while handling property believed to be derived from an indictable offence can draw terms of up to 14 years. Local reports cited the presence of a biography of jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai and works by political cartoonist Zunzi among the titles removed by police; similar books were previously described by pro‑Beijing outlets as “soft resistance” publications when criticising so‑called “yellow” bookstores that supported the 2019 protest movement.

The raid on Hunter Bookstore comes three months after national security officers searched another independent outlet, Yat-Chuen Bookhouse, and arrested its operator and three staff members over the display and sale of the same Jimmy Lai biography. All four were later granted bail, but the case sent a chill through Hong Kong’s small ecosystem of independent booksellers, many of which stock social and political titles alongside general literature. Ho has previously said that government departments carried out dozens of inspections and other actions targeting Hunter Bookstore over several years, even before the latest operation, as authorities and pro‑government media stepped up scrutiny of shops perceived to hold pro‑democracy views.

Ho, a former journalist and member of the now‑disbanded Civic Party, opened Hunter Bookstore after resigning her Sha Tin District Council seat and withdrawing from frontline politics in 2021. She has described the shop’s name, drawn from the Japanese manga “Hunter × Hunter,” as a statement against passivity, and has publicly argued that books should remain “open” and “free” unless and until explicitly banned. In interviews, she acknowledged a climate of fear among publishers and readers but said she sought to maintain a space for discussion within the narrowing bounds of Hong Kong’s legal environment. The latest arrests mark a further escalation in the city’s approach to independent bookshops, reinforcing a message that even small‑scale retail operations risk national‑security scrutiny over the choice of titles they carry and the sources of their funding.