By Crista Quintos
US-based online remittance company Remitly, which operates a major tech support hub in the Philippines, announced in a press briefing on Wednesday, September 19, its expansion to 11 countries across Europe.
With the Philippines as a major destination of remittances from OFWS all over the world, the country was identified by Remitly as a good starting off point for the company and subsequently established its presence here in 2011.
The company started the remittance service from the United States to the Philippines and has since expanded to more countries worldwide.
To be able to expand its services across the globe, Remitly partnered with 11 countries across Europe to make the service available in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
To send money home, customers use Remitly?s mobile application. Once the transaction has been processed, Remitly features its Perfect Delivery Promise, which gives customers an exact date and time that they can expect their funds to arrive. The user will be able to track the movements of their funds until it has reached its destination.
To hit their growth target in terms of disbursement, the company teamed up with all the top banks in the Philippines, and over 10,00 0 cash pickup locations. Its featured are Banco de Oro, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Metrobank, Philippine National Bank, M Lhuillier, Cebuana Lhuillier, SM Department Store, and LBC to name a few.
To date, over $200 million has been sent to the Philippines through Remitly?s services, with $9 million worth of transfer fees saved by customers compared to the company?s competitors.
Eugenio Nigro, vice president of global business development at Remitly, shared that before coming to the event, he met a taxi driver who used to work in the Middle East and in the US. ?Filipinos sacrifice a lot working overseas to support their families do. That is something that is part of our core values because we want to be part of the customers? journey,? he said.
The executive said Remitly is looking forward to continually expanding their reach to give OFWs and their families a convenient and accessible remittance service. ?The industry is completely different from what it was 16 years ago, and ten years from now, who knows what the industry will look like?? Nigro said.
