UCPB remittance receipts increase by 14%

United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) has posted a 14 percent hike in foreign remittance receipts to $1.01 billion in the nine months to September from $883 million a year ago. The bank traced the growth to partnerships with money transfer companies based abroad, which overseas Filipino workers (OFW) use to send money home. Dollar receipts generated from foreign principals of local shipping companies had also contributed to the rise, said Victor Ruben Tuason, UCPB vice-president for remittance marketing. "We have very good customer management accounts [involving] shipping companies. We have also benefited from our previous tie-ups with companies based abroad [through which] OFWs send their remittances," Mr. Tuason said in a telephone interview. UCPB is seeking to capture a bigger slice of the growing foreign remittance pie and is eyeing the OFW market to drive future growth, he said. Early this year, the bank formed its own remittance marketing division to focus on developing special products and services for OFWs and provide them with wider and more convenient remittance channels. Mr. Tuason said the bank is also expanding its market reach by entering into alliances with foreign and domestic remittance service providers. UCPB recently tied up with US-based international payment company MoneyGram International and with UAE Exchange to handle money sent home by Filipinos working abroad. MoneyGram’s 100,000 outlets in 180 countries and UAE Exchange’s estimated clientele of 200,000 OFWs in the United Arab Emirates allow the bank to extend its reach. The two new tie-ups came on the heels of an agreement that UCPB forged with Globe Telecom subsidiary G-Xchange, Inc. to allow beneficiaries of the bank’s OFW clients to claim money sent to them at close to 1,500 GCash outlets nationwide, in addition to UCPB and UCPB Savings Bank branch networks. Mr. Tuason said UCPB is also cashing in on dollar receipts generated by business process outsourcing (BPO) firms to boost its foreign remittance business. "We intend to explore this as a lucrative market for remittances. We can generate a lot of dollar receipts from the foreign principals of these companies," Mr. Tuason said. UCPB expects $138 million more worth of OFW remittances by year-end on top of the 14% growth as of September, as it expects a surge in inflows during the holiday season. - Gerard S. dela Peña/BusinessWorld