Mesina-Romero Bridget Rose

Atty. Bridget Rose M. Mesina-Romero is the Director of the Payments Policy and Development Department (PPDD) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, primarily charged with promoting the safety, efficiency, reliability, inclusivity and affordability of payment systems in the Philippines.

Atty. Romero leads a team which focuses on the formulation of policies in support of the BSP’s mandate under the National Payment Systems Act; the implementation of payments development initiatives in order to accelerate nationwide adoption of digital payments; and the periodic monitoring and measurement of the effectiveness of said policies and progress of various initiatives using select payments indicators. She also leads the BSP’s core team working on cross-border payments initiatives within the ASEAN region.
Atty. Romero serves as the BSP's representative in international working groups focusing on payment systems. She currently holds roles such as being a principal representative for the ASEAN Working Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (WC-PSS) and for the BSP team in the Alliance for Financial Inclusion Working Group on Digital Financial Services, and a member of the BSP team in the EMEAP Working Group on Payments and Market Infrastructure (WGPMI). Additionally, she is among the project leads for various critical projects of the BSP on enhancing national payment system safety and efficiency such as the BSP's wholesale CBDC pilot project known as "Project Agila", and the BSP national ISO 20022 harmonization project. Currently, represents BSP in Project Nexus1, and BSP’s alternate representative to the Nexus Global Payments – Nexus Transition Committee and Board.

Atty. Romero was a member of the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) Core Team who received the 2020 Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award (Group Category). As part of the NRPS core team, Atty. Romero was primarily involved and instrumental in the accomplishment of milestone NRPS initiatives such as the NRPS Framework, the establishment of a payment system management body and the formation of priority automated clearing houses namely, PESONet and InstaPay, among others.

Atty. Romero obtained her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Accountancy and Juris doctor degrees from the University of the Philippines. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of the Philippine Bar.

1 Nexus is a multilateral instant payment scheme that aims to enable safe, efficient (fast and low cost), transparent, and accessible cross border payments by connecting participants’ domestic instant (or “real time” or “fast”) payment systems (IPS) globally. Project Nexus used to be an initiative led by the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub (BISIH) and the BSP was a participant in Project Nexus since Phase 3.
In March 2025, the Nexus Global Payments Ltd. (NGP) was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in Singapore to operationalize and manage the Nexus scheme. NGP's incorporation by the five first mover countries (FM5) in Project Nexus, Reserve Bank of India, Bank Negara Malaysia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Bank of Thailand, marks the transition of the Nexus initiative from a BISIH project to real-world implementation. Currently in Phase 4, the FM5 is working toward live implementation of the Nexus scheme, with the European Central Bank and Bank Indonesia as special observers.