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WESTERN
Union has projected continuing growth in its Philippine
business despite the sluggish US economy, which has
affected spending patterns of its citizens, including
Filipino-Americans.
In an
interview with select reporters, Darton Stradling,
director for market development of Western Union,
expressed optimism that remittances by
Filipino-Americans “will not decline” despite the
economic crisis currently gripping the US. “[It] won’t
impact on the Philippine business. The Philippine
business is growing.”
Speaking
on the sidelines of the company’s dinner at the Manila
Ocean Park for participants of the Fourth Annual
Ambassadors, Consuls Generals and Tourism Directors
Tour, Stradling based his optimism on the growing number
of Filipinos migrating or working in the US. Filipino
nurses, for instance, are in huge demand there so more
deployments in the US healt-care industry are expected,
he said.
Citing
several US states with large concentrations of
Filipinos, he said the Philippines remittance business
in the Las Vegas, for example, has grown by 58 percent,
Hawaii at 38 percent, and Phoenix at 65 percent.
California and Hawaii are the “two heaviest remitters to
the Philippines.”
Stradling said: “They [Fil-Ams] may send a little bit
less in principal [because of the economic crisis in the
US], but the number of transactions continue to grow.”
There
are about four million Filipinos living and working in
the US. Their average remittance to the Western Union’s
money transfer facility is about $500 per transaction,
he said.
He added
that Western Union is planning to “open more locations”
in the Philippines but was not sure on the exact number.
Stradling also sees continuing expansion in the
company’s local business, despite the Filipinos’
increasing use of international bank transfers.
“We have
50,000 locations in the US and over 7,000 locations in
the Philippines. The Filipinos are very comfortable with
so many convenient locations, and send their money to
another convenient location in the Philippines,” he
said.
Another
factor that has given Western Union the edge over
banking institutions is that US dollar payouts are
available in its Philippine outlets, Stradling said. “So
when they send $300, that $300 can be picked up here in
the Philippines without [the recipients here] paying any
extra fees.”
Among
ethnic communities in the US, Filipinos are among the
top remitters through Western Union, placing second only
to Mexicans. Other top remitters include the Chinese,
Indians, and Latin Americans.
Data
from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the country’s
central monetary authority, total remittances received
here by families of overseas Filipinos amounted to $14.5
billion. Of the total, $7.6 billion were sent by
Filipinos residing in the US The BSP data also captures
monies sent through money transfer agents like Western
Union, according to BSP deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo,
as the company “also uses bank facilities.”
Western
Union clients in the US pay at least $12 per transaction
for remittances anywhere from $0 to $800, whether the
payout is in Philippine pesos or in US dollars.
Philippine banks with branches or remittance centers in
the US charge about $8 for remittances to the
Philippines, and $20 if the local payout is in US
dollars. Said service fees are for transactions below
$3,000. However, the recipient here in the Philippines
must have a regular savings account or foreign currency
deposit unit account in the said bank.
For US
banks with branches in the Philippines, like Citibank
for example, clients can open a remittance account and
local recipients will receive a special ATM card with
their own PIN. Local payout, however, is in pesos.
For its
usual dollar-to-dollar transactions, local recipients
must open an FCDU account with Citibank’s local branch.
In both cases, service fees are paid by both the
remitter and the local recipient, and are variable,
based on market rates and locations.
“Citi
charges a $10 flat fee for incoming remittance from the
US, whether credited to a peso or dollar account. The
sender is also usually charged a fee by the bank he uses
from the US, but the fee varies from bank to bank,”
according to Aneth Lim of Citibank’s local public
relations and communications office.
What
makes Citi’s service unique though, Lim said, is that
clients here will get the remittance “in real time,” or
as soon as the remitter in the US sends the money.
Western
Union continues to woo Filipinos in the US by
implementing aggressive marketing campaigns to increase
brand awareness and loyalty, and regularly adopts as
pricing promotions in special markets.
As part
of its loyalty program, for example, Gold Cards allow
the remitters to send their money to their relatives in
the Philippines without having to accomplish any form.
When swiped by a PC-equipped Western Union agent, the
remitter’s transaction history is immediately accessed,
and the time spent on sending money is reduced.
Gold
Card members are also entitled to a rewards point system
that makes them eligible to win certain prizes after a
certain number of points are accumulated.
Stradling said the company also sponsors important
activities by organizations or associations composed of
Filipino health-care professionals in the US.
According to its web site, Western Union was founded in
1851 as telegram service before offering money-transfer
services in 1871. It is now an industry leader in the
global money-transfer business with over 345,000 agent
locations in more than 200 countries and territories.
A
publicly listed company in the US, the company recorded
a revenue of $5 billion in 2007 from its money-transfer
business, bills payment, and pre-paid services. |
