As countries re-open their borders, Globe and mobile wallet GCash partnered to launch a service enabling overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to connect and support families back home.
"Now, sending money and paying for expenses of those back home, plus subscribing to roaming offers can all be done in just one app,” said Coco Domingo, Globe Vice President for Postpaid and International Business.
OFWs with Globe Prepaid and TM SIMs can now use GCash to top-up and register in value-for-money roaming promos.
Globe's Roam Surf data packs, on the other hand, come with free GCash access so customers can use the digital wallet to remit funds to their families back gome for free, pay for their bills and manage other financial transactions.
“Globe and GCash have a shared proposition of empowering the OFW community to remain in control of their finances and stay connected with their families while abroad," he explained.
Globe’s first GCash-exclusive roaming offer, Roam All Net 99, gives OFWs savings of more than P4,200 on roaming calls and texts.
For P99/day, OFWs can have 30 mins of outgoing and incoming calls and 30 all-net texts.
Though OFWs and their families in the Philippines can communicate via various messaging apps, nothing beats clear calls made thru International Direct Dial (IDD), which Globe included in GCash services
Through Globe’s GOCALL IDD offers, families of OFWs get up to 80 minutes in call credits to North America and Asia, and 40 minutes to Europe and Africa.
Globe subscribers in the Philippines can also purchase a roaming promo for their family abroad through the Buy Load feature on GCash.
They can simply input the number and choose the roaming offer under the Roaming & Int'l tab.
The Globe-GCash partnership also provides convenience and broader coverage.
With GCash, sending money requires fewer details than bank transfers and can be done securely via mobile.
In addition, GCash has remittance partners in more than 31 countries worldwide, making it easier for OFWs to cash-in funds and transfer them to other GCash users.
Latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed personal remittances from OFWs grew by 5.1 percent to an all-time high of $31.4 billion last year after a decline by 0.8 percent to $29.9 billion in 2020 as COVID-19 ravaged the global economy.
This year, the BSP projects OFW remittances to grow by four percent as more Filipinos are redeployed in different countries.