Philippine banks tie up with Bank of China to launch peso-renminbi spot market

Individuals can soon change renminbi into peso and vice versa.

The Bank of China Manila is set to sign a memorandum of understanding with a total of 15 Manila banks in Q3 to set up a peso-renminbi spot market called the Philippine-RMB Community in Q3.

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Individuals will soon be able to change their renminbi into pesos and vice versa without a heavy reliance on the US dollar peg.

“Chinese tourists will soon be able to change their RMB into pesos at better exchange rates, whilst Filipino merchants would be able to accept RMB, which they can later exchange for peso with banks at lower costs,” the Bank of China told local media.

At present, transactions between Filipino and Chinese businesses must first be priced using the existing US dollar rate which could bring a margin cost of up to 2%. 

“The renminbi has become an important player in global payments and trade settlement. Our role in the Philippines is to act as a bridge between the Philippines and China – to educate and inform our clients of the advantages on the use of RMB and help them improve relationships with trading partners while helping mitigate foreign exchange risk,” said Deng Jun, Philippine country head of Bank of China.