BANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has teamed up with financial technology company (fintech) TerraPay for remittances, the bank said on Tuesday.
Under the partnership, overseas Filipinos can send money to BPI accounts of their relatives back home through TerraPay’s agents and channels.
“The partnership forms part of BPI’s mission to continuously develop solutions for the ever-changing banking needs of Filipinos and deliver an enhanced digital banking experience,” the bank said in a statement.
“With TerraPay’s reputation in building an expansive and inclusive international financial ecosystem, BPI expects the new partnership to further drive inward remittances,” it added.
TerraPay is a mobile-first global payments platform and has a network of 205 send countries and 103 receive countries globally.
It is regulated and registered in 25 markets and has teamed up with banks, mobile wallets, money transfer operators, merchants, and financial institutions to facilitate cross-border digital transactions.
“We are delighted to collaborate with TerraPay to enable acceptance of real-time payments across our well-entrenched network in Southeast Asia,” BPI Head of Corporate Banking Strategy, Products, and Support Reginaldo Anthony B. Cariaso said.
“Our priority is to ensure the convenience of Filipinos in sending remittances wherever they are in the world. As we boost our digitalization efforts, we are keen to facilitate easy and quick adoption of remittances across the region in service of consumers seeking secure contactless payments options,” Mr. Cariaso said.
Cash remittances coursed through banks grew by 3.8% year on year to $2.84 billion in September, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data showed.
For the first nine months, money sent home by overseas Filipino workers stood at $23.825 billion, rising by 3.1% from the year prior.
The central bank expects remittances to grow by 4% this year.
BPI booked a net income of P10.1 billion in the third quarter. This brought the bank’s bottom line for the first nine months to P30.5 billion, backed by higher revenues and lower provisions for loan losses.
Shares in BPI went up by P4.80 or 4.9% to close at P102.80 apiece on Tuesday. — AMCS