MANILA, Philippines--Globe Telecom Inc. has joined the overseas remittance business with a tie-up with global money transfer firm Western Union that will allow users to send and receive money from abroad through their mobile phones.

Globe’s Mobile Money Transfer Service will be made available to Globe mobile-phone subscribers through its Gcash service, which allows users to make purchases and transactions using electronic cash stored in their so-called “mobile wallet” accounts.

The remittance business will be handled by G-Exchange Inc., the operating unit of Globe that also takes care of the Gcash business.

G-Exchange Inc. president Rizza Maniego-Eala said in an interview that the new service would also allow overseas Filipinos to send money to local beneficiaries at rates lower than for existing methods.

Under the Gcash scheme, for example, a remitter in the United States can send $100 to the Philippines for a fee of only $4.50. This is less costly than the traditional remittance channels that charge $16 to $20 per transaction.

“This is a very efficient and convenient way of sending money back to the Philippines,” Maniego-Eala said, adding that the affordability of the mobile money transfers would allow more people to send more frequent, low-principal transactions back home.

The service is initially available in Hawaii and Dubai, as part of Western Union’s pilot program, but the Gcash head said that she was expecting the service to be rolled out in other cities and countries as the service gains wider acceptance.

At present, there are about 1.5 million users of Globe’s Gcash service and more than 6,000 authorized partner outlets in the country that accept Gcash payments.

The remittance service is still in its pilot stage, and Globe expects to make a full rollout of the service in 12 to 18 months, Maniego-Eala said.

Recently, Globe also partnered with the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) to roll out a system that allowed rural banks and clients to conduct transactions using mobile phones.

Under the Micro-enterprise Access to Banking Services scheme, clients of rural banks will be able to make loan payments, pay bills and make deposits and withdrawals, all through their mobile phones.

Eventually, the system will also provide the platform that will allow salary payments to be remitted to employees direct to their Gcash mobile wallet accounts.