iRemit sets up second Italy branch in Milan

MANILA, Philippines - I-Remit Inc. (iRemit), the country’s largest Filipino-owned non-bank remittance company, has set up shop in Milan – its second branch in Italy – as part of an aggressive expansion overseas.

In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, iRemit said Milan is one of the most frequented overseas Filipino worker (OFW) destinations and comprises about 32 percent of Filipinos in Italy. The first branch in Italy opened in Rome last April.

The estimated number of OFWs in Milan stands at about 34,000, most of them employed as domestic workers, with a few nurses and staff in the service sectors and factories.

“The steady deployment and demand for our Filipino workers are the primary driving forces of the company. As more and more Filipinos go to other countries to earn a living and provide better lives for their families back home, i-Remit also ensures that it will be there to provide them better assistance and guarantee that the fruits of their hard-earned labor will be easily accessed by their beneficiaries in the Philippines,” said iRemit chairman and chief executive officer Bansan Choa.

The opening of the Milan branch is just one of the many initiatives lined up by the company as part of its thrust to aggressively grow the business and expand into territories where its presence has not yet been established.

“In line with our vision to be the ultimate choice remittance service provider, we are constantly pushing to establish our presence in areas where most of our fellow Filipinos reside, whether temporarily or permanently. The challenges that beset the company should be seen as opportunities for us to look into other venues where we could serve more markets. And, we will continue to tap the markets where we previously had no presence,” iRemit president and chief operating officer Harris Jacildo said.

“There are a lot of opportunities now, more particularly since the global economy is starting to normalize as individual economies begin to recover from the recent crisis. We have to take advantage of these opportunities and use them as a leverage to further strengthen the brand. We want our clients to know that no matter where they are, they can rely on iRemit to provide fast, reliable and efficient remittance service,” Choa added.

iRemit’s Milan branch provides the widest choices of remittance services: iRemit Visa Card (remittance cash card), iCredit (credit to any bank account), iDeliver (door-to-door), iNotify (remittance cash pick up in over 5,000 pickup stations in the Philippines), iPay (bills payment facilities for SSS, Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth, real estate and pre-need companies), and iShop (food and gift remittances in partnership with Jollibee, Nestle and Home Shopping Network).

iRemit Milan will also cater to Chinese remittance clients as the company recently expanded its remittance distribution reach by offering euro cross-border money transfer to customers in China. This move will bolster the expansion of its remittance service portfolio, extending its market reach not only to OFWs, but to Chinese nationals as well.