BPI to expand remittance offices in Europe

REPORT FROM BUSINESSWORLD AYALA-LED BANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) will expand its remittance operations in Europe as it tries to corner a bigger chunk of remittance transactions, particularly those involving overseas Filipino workers (OFW). The bank has remittance centers in more than 35 countries worldwide. Teresita B. Tan, BPI senior vice-president for overseas banking, said the bank’s remittance centers in Italy and Spain would be converted into full bank branches of its wholly owned subsidiary BPI Europe Plc by next year. BPI Europe’s first office, located in London, will start operations in October. "Since UK is a member of the European Union, it will be easier for us to process licenses in other member countries afterwards," Ms. Tan said in a press briefing. BPI Europe, which was granted authority by the UK Financial Services Authority to set up a wholly owned banking subsidiary in London in January, will be able to offer banking services to OFWs based there, aside from remittance services. "Most of the time it’s hard for OFWs to open accounts [in other countries] because of high minimum required amounts, and we would like to address that, Ms. Tan said. "We also would like to make remittance transactions faster. The whole idea is to make transactions fast, cheap and efficient," she added. The bank is expecting to grow its remittance business with the establishment of a subsidiary in Europe. The central bank is targeting 10% growth in remittances by the end of the year to $14.7 billion from $12.76 billion in 2006. While remittance inflows went up at a slower pace in July at 4.64% from 18.46% a year ago, Ms. Tan said BPI is growing above the industry standard. She did not cite figures. The bank is also keen on tying up with other international financial institutions to boost its remittance business given the high costs required in putting up a branch or subsidiary. — Gerard S. dela Peña/BusinessWorld