iRemit sets up wholly-owned unit in Europe

MANILA, Philippines - iRemit Inc., the country’s largest Filipino-owned non-bank remittance company, has further stepped up its presence in the global markets with the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary in Europe.

The new unit, I-Remit Global Remittance Ltd. (IGRL), has obtained its license as an authorized payment institution under the European Payment Services Directive, a legislation adopted by the European Union that harmonizes all laws in the European Economic Area (EEA) pertaining to payment services.  

As an authorized payment institution, IGRL can exercise “passporting” rights and is entitled to conduct its activities by establishing money remittance branches and providing cross-border services in the 29 EEA states namely: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

In line with this, IGRL has recently acquired authorization from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in London and Banca D’Italia of Italy to operate its office in Rome as a branch.

The branch in Rome will open on Aug. 1 while its Milan branch will open in about two weeks. These Italy branches will not only accept remittances from Filipinos sending to their beneficiaries in the Philippines but also from Chinese nationals who will be sending to their beneficiaries in China.

iRemit noted that there are almost 700,000 Filipinos in Europe. At least 200,000 are in UK while an estimated 175,000 reside in the cities and outlying areas of Italy, particularly Rome, Milan, Florence, Bologna and Naples.

With this passporting rights, iRemit’s current remittance outlets in Europe has been reorganized to further boost its presence and in keeping with its commitment to provide quality, efficient and affordable remittance channels and services to overseas Filipinos.

In Asia, the enactment of the Payment Services Act of Japan in 2010 has opened the country for the entry on non-bank money remittance companies. iRemit has also begun the process of obtaining authorization from the Japanese Financial Services Agency to conduct business as a money remittance company through a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Given the positive trend and continuous employment in well-paying industries by developed economies, iRemit said it would continue to transform itself into a globally-competitive organization providing world class remittance and payment services to the global Filipino.