Remittances from overseas Filipinos coursed through the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) have reached $407 million in the first nine months of the year or 30 percent higher than the $313 million recorded in the same period last year.
By yearend, Landbank is targeting to increase this to $490 million on expectations that Filipinos abroad will be sending more dollars to their relatives in the country for the Christmas season, Landbank president and chief executive officer Gilda Pico said.
“We may even exceed our target consistent with our renewed commitment to position Landbank among other leading banks in providing fast and convenient ways of transferring funds to beneficiaries of overseas Filipinos,” Pico said.
She said that the bank’s strength in inward remittances is its extensive reach and presence in the country’s provinces.
“This is also our service to overseas Filipinos whose families are mostly in the rural areas. OFW remittances help perk up the local economy which is consistent with our thrust of promoting growth and development in the countryside,” Pico said.
This year, Landbank has established new tie-ups with 17 remittance companies which have strong and established client base. Among these are the Al Rahji Bank in Saudi Arabia, Car-a-Van Express S.L. in Spain, Mabini Express in Canada and iRemit which operates worldwide.
The bank has also partnered with 19 new shipping and manning agencies in addition to its existing tie-ups with 42 agencies. These partnerships will enable the agencies to course the payroll of their employed seafarers thru Landbank’s system thereby ensuring safe and quick crediting to their employees’ payroll accounts.
Last month, Landbank Remittance Co., the bank’s wholly-owned remittance subsidiary opened its branch in San Francisco, California to accommodate the growing volume of remittances from OFWs and other Filipino expatriates in the United States.
Furthermore, the institution also introduced the Landbank Cash Card for OFWs in partnership with Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) early this year. The facility aims to provide OFWs with faster and more convenient way of transferring funds using their cellular phones.
“All these new initiatives are in support to our thrust of playing a bigger role in servicing the remittance requirements of our kababayans,” Pico said.