Overseas Filipino Bank launched
By Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
Reporter
THE OVERSEAS Filipino Bank (OFB) was launched yesterday — in fulfillment of a campaign promise by President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
“Establishing the OFB fulfills President Duterte’s campaign promise to Filipinos working abroad in order to support their dependents at home,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in a speech during the launching at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila. “It will help unlock investment opportunities and a wide array of financial products so that our overseas workers will be able to join the financial mainstream of our rising economy. No longer will our overseas workers be vulnerable to expensive remittance charges and investment scams.”
This comes about four months since Mr. Duterte directed through Executive Order No. 44 the transfer of Philippine Postal Bank (PostBank) shares from the Philippine Postal Corporation and the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) to Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank).
PostBank will perform functions of the Overseas Filipino Bank, now a Landbank subsidiary — an acquisition approved by the Philippine Competition Commission last week and the Monetary Board last December.
The lender is “dedicated to provide financial products and services tailored to the requirement of overseas Filipinos” and will focus on delivering “quality and efficient foreign remittance services,” a statement said.
The OFB would offer “15 banking products and services,” including peso ATM savings, time deposits, and checking accounts, loan products, investment products such as Unit Investment Trust Funds, payment services, and remittance services.
Beneficiaries can also invest in OFB’s preferred shares.
“The OFB is another step towards reshaping our economic progress to make it more inclusive. It will help fulfill our goal of shifting to an investment-driven economy. More important, our overseas workers would be able to invest in their country which they have helped transform into one of the fastest-growing economies in the region,” Mr. Dominguez said.
Landbank President Alex V. Buenaventura for his part said the bank’s first representative office would be located in Dubai, and the second one, in Bahrain.
Mr. Dominguez said Landbank officials would meet with diplomats posted in the Middle East and Europe “in the next few weeks,” and those in the Americas by midyear to discuss the bank’s rollout.
Mr. Dominguez added that the Department of Finance and Landbank, which he chairs, are also planning to secure licenses in other countries with large concentrations of overseas Filipinos so the lender can provide wider financial advisory services to beneficiaries.
Initially, the bank was planned to cater only to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), but the DoF had proposed to provide services to all foreign-based Filipinos to make it more inclusive, in keeping with the government’s financial inclusion agenda.
“Through the Overseas Filipino Bank, we give back what is due to our kababayans abroad through a bank especially dedicated to servicing their banking and financing requirements,” said Mr. Duterte, who also attended the launching.
