BPI boosts remittance business

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is beefing up its remittance business through the launch of two new types of remittance solutions designed to address the special needs of Filipinos living and working abroad.

Simon Paterno, executive vice president and segment head of financial products and alternative channels at BPI, said the BPI Pamana Padala and BPI Padala Moneyger would cater to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families in the Philippines.

He pointed out overseas workers all strive to give their loved ones back home a bright future.

“They are our modern day heroes who take risks to provide for their families. We also understand that despite their increased ability to financially provide for the family, OFWs have to live with the nagging question whether their families will be able to take care of themselves should anything unfortunate happen to them,” he said.

OFWs can now send their hard-earned money to their BPI Pamana Padala account and could be electronically transferred directly to the BPI accounts of their loved ones. Its unique feature is the Remittance Continuation Plan that provides the free 90-day Personal Accident Insurance of P100,000 and life insurance coverage of up to P300,000.

“To address these concerns, we launched BPI Pamana Padala, which not only gives the convenience of transferring funds anytime and anywhere, but also comes with a back-up plan for the peace of mind of the OFW. Through this we hope to give the protection that OFWs need and thereby safeguard the future of their families,” Paterno added.

Through BPI Pamana Padala’s Free Remittance Continuation benefit, OFWs can get a free life insurance coverage of up to P300,000 as soon as there are four remittances to the Pamana Padala account within a 12-month period.

On the other hand, BPI Padala Moneyger that has no maintaining balance as long as there are four remittancs made to the account in a year was specially designed to those who receive remittances from abroad.

“With BPI Padala Moneyger, the beneficiaries are now the ‘managers’ of the remittance sent. With this product, beneficiaries have a safe, secure, and efficient way of receiving the remittance,” he said

The accountholder could use BPI’s electronic banking services such as 24/7 online banking and ATMs to control the funds such as pay bills, transfer funds.

“Though a lot of OFWs are away from their loved ones, we hope that our services would help bring them closer,” Paterno said.

Latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed cash remittances coursed through banks rose four percent to $25.3 billion while personal remittances grew 5.1 percent to $28.2 billion from January to November last year.