MANILA, Philippines - The total value of financial transactions that passed through the payments facility of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) went up by 9.6 percent last year as more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) coursed their remittances through the central bank’s Philippine Payments and Settlements System (PhilPaSS).
The BSP reported that the value of transactions coursed through PhilPaSS amounted to P206.6 trillion last year or P18.5 trillion more than the P188.5 trillion recorded in 2009 as the number of processed and settled transactions jumped 22.2 percent to 916.3 million
“The significant increase in the number and volume of transactions stemmed mainly from OFW remittance transactions processed and settled through the PhilPaSS Remit system,” the BSP stressed.
Data showed that a total of 112.6 million OFW remittance transactions involving P4 billion were coursed through the PhilPaSS Remit system last year.
The PhilPaSS-Remit system is part of the advocacy of the BSP to help Filipinos abroad and their beneficiaries by providing a safer, faster, and cheaper means of remittance.
The BSP has encouraged banks and financial institutions to course OFW remittances through the central bank’s electronic payment and settlement system so that beneficiaries of Filipinos working abroad could enjoy lower fees. There are about 12 banks that are currently coursing their OFW remittance transactions through the central bank’s PhilPaSS-Remit System .
The project is one of the initiatives undertaken by the BSP in coordination with the Association of Bank Remittance Officers Inc. (ABROI) through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) last December.
The BSP said the settlement of OFW remittances through the PhilPaSS Remit System would result in savings of between P100 and P500 per transaction as current system charges between P150 and P550 per transaction. OFW families are expected to save at least P92 million to as high as P922 million due to the faster and cheaper delivery of remittances to the beneficiaries at a lower rate of P50 per transaction instead of the current range of between P100 and P550 per transaction.