Philippines: PLDT unit, US-based UniTeller tie up for new remittance platform

By Tomas S. Noda III for dealstreetasia.com

PLDT Global Corp (PGC), a unit of Philippine listed telecom and digital services provider PLDT, has partnered with US-based international remittance network UniTeller Financial Services to develop a new online remittance platform.

The goal is to enable Filipinos in the USA to send money to their families and friends in the Philippines easily and at affordable rates via an online portal and mobile application.

PGC is the international marketing, sales and operating arm of PLDT, while  UniTeller is an international remittances services firm with headquarters in New Jersey. It has a network of more than 30,000 paying locations worldwide and has a local office at the financial district of Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Metro Manila where it takes care of the money remittance fulfillment to recipients in the Philippines.

PLDT EVP and head of enterprise and international & carrier business and PGC chairman Eric Alberto said the new service will be a welcome solution for the company’s Fil-Am (Filipino-American) market as it fits well with their digital lifestyle.

“With this mobile remittance app, they can send money anytime and anywhere they are,” Alberto said.

PLDT international & carrier business head and PGC president and CEO Alex Caeg explained the new service will disrupt the conventional way of remitting money by going to a bank or a remittance center.

“With this new mobile app, sending money would be as easy as texting or updating our Facebook status,” Caeg said.

The new remittance platform works by registering to the online portal, then key in the bank account, credit or debit card details, including the Philippine beneficiary, and send the money instantly.

UniTeller president & CEO Alberto Guerra expressed optimism that they can meet all the requirements of the new remittance platform with PGC using their more than 20 years experience as an international money transfer processing company in the US.

Remittances from overseas Filipinos remain to be the major source of dollar for the Philippines, with the major bulk coming from the US at $10.37 billion as of October 2015. The Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) or Philippine central bank expects remittances to hit $25.6 billion at the end of 2015.