Well-known UAE bank RAKBANK has announced a partnership with Philippines bank BDO Unibank to facilitate remittance in the region.
According to the report, the UAE to Philippines remittance corridor is fairly large. Since a large number of Filipinos work in the UAE.
Back in 2017, RAKBANK and RippleNet partnered to facilitate remittance to India. It was also a huge success as instant cross border transactions to India was made possible. Axis Bank based in India was also a member of this partnership.
RAKBANK’s latest partnership with BDO Unibank is expected to take remittance in the Philippines to a whole new level. Facilitating faster, secure and cost-efficient remittance through RippleNet and RAKBANK’s transfer services [RMT].
More on the partnership
Speaking on the partnership, Peter England, CEO of RAKBANK, asserted the goal of the bank as improving cross-border transactions. Also adding that this partnership with BDO will help Filipinos safely and instantly transfer money home.
His statement reads: “We, at RAKBANK, are committed to increasing our international remittance footprint and are delighted to enhance our RMT services into the Philippines.” Further adding that now “Filipino ex-pat community here in the UAE can safely and instantly remit money back home at competitive rates with zero back-end charges and no hidden fees.”
BDO Unibank now has the function of a much-needed bridge between the UAE and the Island country. Providing Filipino expatriates in the UAE with banking and financial services.
For now, until 29 February 2020, all remittances will be carried out at zero costs. And using the bank’s RAKMoney Transfer (RMT), money transfer can also be done to any bank account in the Philippines using RippleNet.
The two banks have promised to work together, creating a system of transparent, efficient, and fast remittances alongside no hidden tariffs and low fees.
Ripple ODL
On 16 January 2020, Ripple published a report titled ‘The Growing Remittance Market in Asia-Pacific: 2020 Global Payment Opportunities’. The report disclosed that the Asia-Pacific (APAC) market is leading the digitalization trend especially in terms of remittance. Also adding that remittance inflow to low and middle-income countries like the Philippines and Thailand has reached about $529 billion in 2018. And was expected to go as high as $550 billion in 2019.
According to the report, the Philippines is the third largest receiver of remittance worldwide. Further adding that with over 10 million Filipinos working abroad remittance inflow is quite high.
Ripple’s 22 January report, throws more light on Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL). Pointing out that several firms have employed ODL. While Ripple continues to put plans in place to assist expansion into several other remittance corridors. Like the APAC, EMEA, and LATAM corridors in 2020.
