Western Union Processing Services Inc. has launched a new digital app in the Philippines to serve around seven million overseas Filipinos and their families, expanding its platform beyond money requests to enable two-way transfers, including sending funds abroad.
In an Oct. 1 statement, the new service allows consumers in the Philippines to send money overseas at competitive exchange rates and request remittances.
App users can now send money overseas through Western Union’s global network, with access to billions of bank accounts, millions of digital wallets and cards, and hundreds of thousands of retail cash pickup points.
Users can also request money from senders in major Filipino diaspora markets such as the United States (US), Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom (UK) by simply entering their recipient details in the app.
Senders can complete the transfer online from their country of residence, while recipients can access the money through cash pickup, bank deposit or digital wallet, depending on the destination market.
Western Union said its target market includes roughly seven million Filipinos overseas and an estimated 28 million family members in the Philippines who rely on remittances.
“If you look at the central bank numbers for last year, I think it was $38.3 billion. It’s a three-percent growth versus the previous year,” Ricardo Alair II, director at Western Union Philippines, Guam, Northern Mariana, and Palau, said during a media briefing on Oct. 1.
Ricardo Alair II
Gregory Laurent, vice president for the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands explained that its digital rollout in the Philippines was delayed by licensing requirements, but stressed it has heavily invested in security measures and fraud warnings as part of its competitive edge.
He added that the app’s soft launch already drew unexpected user traction, noting rising digital adoption among Filipinos will make the new app a major growth driver.
“We don’t expect digital to cannibalize our retail. On the contrary, we do think that the sum of the two channels will bring more customers to our brand,” Laurent further said, addressing the concern on the risk of reducing in-person transactions across the country.
As for its fraud management measures, Laurent said Western Union has put in place an advanced fraud-flagging system. Based on a customer’s profile, daily cash transfers can go up to ₱820,000.