E-payment method added to PSE website

LOCAL investors can now pay for subscribed shares via online banking with the integration of new features to the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc.'s electronic allocation system (PSE EASy) website.

The site, launched in 2019, allows local small investors (LSIs) to participate in initial public offerings (IPOs) and follow-on offerings (FOOs) without the need to go to physical kiosks located in PSE offices and select areas in Metro Manila.

«The ease offered by electronic payment within the platform will hopefully encourage more LSIs to use PSE EASy to buy shares when there are public offerings,» PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon Monzon said in a statement on Wednesday.

The new features include modifications to the payment method and subscription, enabling LSIs to add, reduce, or cancel subscribed shares provided that payment has not yet been made.

«PSE aims to provide a better experience across its technology platforms. I hope the enhancements introduced in PSE EASy will make IPO and FOO subscriptions more accessible and efficient for investors,» Monzon said.

The e-payment method can already be used for PSE EASy subscriptions in the first IPO this year, the bourse said, clarifying that investors may still settle payments through over-the-counter banking transactions.

The launch of the PSE EASy website, it continued, has widened the reach of its LSI program to more than 40 countries, seven overseas territories, and at least 80 Philippine provinces.

It also noted that most of the LSIs that participated in previous years were retail investors from Metro Manila.

«Of the 29 total offerings that have used PSE EASy, three IPOs and two FOOs have recorded full subscription of their LSI tranche,» the stock exchange added.