The company, which launched the new business last week, said that it has collaborated with long-time partner Petnet Inc. to power its business-to-business payments. The company has no stand-alone shops in the Philippines and only operates on an agent basis.
With the agreement, Petnet will screen all of those who want to use Western Union’s global payment services to make sure that all propective users will comply with all anti-money laundering requirements of various governments.
Local rules allow money transfers of up to P500,000. The sender will have to show proof beyond the said amount.
According to Lorenzo Ocampo, Petnet president and chief executive officer, the company is targeting small and medium-sized companies such as importers and exporters. He declined to give estimates on how much volume the company will handle in the next months of its operation. “We just started this so we have no idea yet how much volume we will handle,” Ocampo said.
He said that the new service will target those who use the transfer of payment through banks, which normally takes 8 to 10 business days for the payment to arrive.
Western Union’s new service, which will use a different rate from its usual remittance fees, promises to send the payment to anywhere in the world within one to two days.
“With [our new product], local businesses can make faster payments, thereby reducing inventory costs and increasing the ability to respond to market changes through faster delivery of products. The way international commerce is done by small businesses in the Philippines will be changed,” said Patricia Riingen, Western Union senior vice president in the Pacific and Indochina.
Businessmen who want to use the said service should register first with Petnet. Upon registration, they have the option of transacting directly via the online payment platform or calling Petnet to fulfill the transaction.
Registered customers can to settle their suppliers in over 140 currencies at competitive rates which will be compared with the fees and other costs charged by the banks. Payments can be made with draft, account deposit or account-to- account transfers.
Petnet has operated the Western Union Agent network in the Philippines since 1998.
