BSP upholds cease-and-desist orders against Lyka and Digital Spring

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has denied the request of Digital Spring Marketing and Advertising, Inc. (Digital Spring), to be registered as an Operator of Payment System (OPS) of the Lyka/Things I Like Company Ltd (TIL) Payment System.

The BSP upheld the cease-and-desist order (CDO) issued against Digital Spring on 23 July 2021, reiterating that Lyka/TIL and not Digital Spring should register as OPS with the BSP.

The BSP transmitted a letter to Digital Spring on its denial of the firm’s requests for reconsideration today. In view of this, the CDOs against Lyka/TIL and Digital Spring dated 23 July 2021 are affirmed and shall remain effective until Lyka/TIL properly registers as an OPS in accordance with law and regulations.

“Think of an OPS as a pilot who must personally obtain a flying license to prove that they possess the necessary skills and training to safely operate a passenger aircraft”, BSP Deputy Governor Mert Tangonan said. “Digital Spring applying for registration, instead of Lyka/TIL itself, is like saying the airline ticketing office can apply for a flying license on behalf of the pilot. It is the pilot who must apply for the license”, he added.

To date, Lyka/TIL has yet to register as an OPS.

Lyka/TIL allows its users to purchase, exchange, and use Gift cards in Electronic Mode or GEMs as payment for goods and services. These activities make Lyka/TIL an OPS and, therefore, its registration is required before it can continue with these activities.

The BSP enables safe, convenient and cost-saving digital payments services to the public for their payment needs. In the process, BSP oversees payment system operators to protect consumers, merchants, banks, and other payment system participants. For its continuous protection, the public is reminded to only use the payment services of a registered OPS. An OPS may be cash-in service providers, bills payment service providers, and entities such as payment gateways and merchant acquirers that enable sellers of goods and services to accept payments, in cash or digital form.

To view entities with certificates or provisional certificates of registration as OPS, the public may click on the following links:

https://www.bsp.gov.ph/PaymentAndSettlement/COR.pdf

https://www.bsp.gov.ph/PaymentAndSettlement/PCOR.pdf