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I-REMIT Inc. announced that it recently struck a partnership with
state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines for the distribution and
promotion of the lender’s OFW Cash Card to reach more overseas
Filipino workers.
In a statement, the country’s biggest
Filipino-owned non-bank remittance firm said the two parties signed
a general remittance agreement wherein iRemit will promote and
distribute the Cash Card to its clients in Asia Pacific, Europe, the
Middle East and North America.
Landbank launched the cash card in January to
give OFWs a cheaper way to transfer funds initially from Dubai to
the Philippines. This service, which uses Smart Communications
Inc.’s mobile services to send money home, was conceived in
response to Administrative Order 215, in which President Arroyo
directed Landbank to fast-track the establishment of cheaper
remittance services.
Through the electronic debit/cash card linked to
a mobile phone with a Smart SIM (subscriber identification module)
card, OFWs in the Middle East can send any amount to the Philippines
with a bank charge of P5 per transaction, excluding the roaming
charge of P20 and a value-added service fee of P2.50 that is charged
to the sender’s airtime load per transfer.
Among the uses of the cash card include loading
mobile airtime, money transfers to pay for utilities, membership
contribution to Social Security System (SSS) or Pag-IBIG Fund,
housing loan amortization, tuition, and schoolchildren’s weekly
allowance. The funds can be withdrawn from over 7,000 ATMs
nationwide using the cash card and a free text message would be sent
to the beneficiary and the sender of the amount remitted.
“This agreement with Landbank will further
strengthen our already established cash card services. It also
brings convenience to our customers because of the bank’s
geographically dispersed branches particularly in the provinces and
remote areas in the country,” Bansan Choa, iRemit chairman and
chief executive, said.
iRemit will benefit from Landbank’s wide
network and modern banking facilities, he said, adding the company
will establish more strategic partnerships with other banks to
improve its reach.
The government financial institution is
currently among the top five commercial banks in the country with
343 branches nationwide. It also has 786 ATMs, interconnected with
at least 7,500 BancNet, Expressnet and Megalink ATMs nationwide.
iRemit and SSS also launched early this year the
SSS Online Payment in Taiwan and Hong Kong to increase the
collections from offshore members and to improve the system for
recording and posting payments. This service was made available to
all iRemit branches in 25 countries across Asia Pacific, North
America, Australia, and the Middle East.
The remittance firm was the first private
company authorized by the state-run pension fund to provide this
electronic collection service overseas. Using this service, overseas
SSS members can send their contributions, with posting guaranteed
within 5 days. Besides SSS contributions, iRemit also accepts and
facilitates payments for Philhealth and real estate developers.
-- Likha C. Cuevas-Miel
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