ELECTRONIC payments service provider TrueMoney Philippines has partnered with WorldRemit to launch an international remittance service in the country.
In a statement on Tuesday, TrueMoney said it has joined forces with remittance service firm WorldRemit to allow Filipinos overseas to send home money digitally.
Xavier Marzan, TrueMoney Philippines founder and president, said the tie-up will enable Filipinos living in urban and far-flung areas alike to receive remittances from more than 50 countries.
Funds will be available for collection at TrueMoney’s network of 14,000 receiving centers nationwide.
“Today, overseas Filipino workers can now make secure and fast money transfers to the Philippines in just a few clicks directly from their mobile devices,” Mr. Marzan was quoted as saying in the statement.
TrueMoney Philippines said it has grown its network in the last two years, offering financial services such as remittance, bills payment and prepaid loading.
The Thailand-based firm already has more than 50,000 financial services centers across six Southeast Asian countries. Its shareholders include the C.P. Group from Thailand as well as Ant Financial from China.
TrueMoney Chief Executive Officer Jacqueline Van Den Ende said the launch of the international remittance service is a strategic priority for TrueMoney in the Philippines, citing World Bank’s study saying that the country ranked third for receiving remittances in 2017 at $33 billion, after India and China.
“We have been offering domestic remittance in our network since a year ago in the Philippines; we now open up our extensive network of branches for international remittance,” Ms. Van Den Ende added.
The partnership between TrueMoney and WorldRemit also builds on the latter’s expansion in the country since it launched its money transfer service in the Philippines in 2011. Founded in 2010, WorldRemit currently remits money from 50 countries to over 150 destinations, with the Philippines as its largest receive market.
“[TrueMoney] will give our customers an even wider choice,” said Bryce Currie, WorldRemit’s global business development director. “In particular, it will enable those who live outside major cities and towns to receive international money transfers safely and securely.”
Money sent home by Filipinos working abroad surged to $2.469 billion in May, up 6.9% from the $2.31 billion received in the same period last year. By source, remittances from the United States, United Kingdom and Singapore were the “main drivers of growth” that month, the central bank said. — K.A.N. Vidal