RCBC targets 15% growth in remittance business

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) aims to grow by double-digits its share in the retail remittances market as well as the volume to be processed this year as the bank expands tie-ups with partners abroad.

Gary B. Villanueva, RCBC executive vice president and group head for global transaction banking, said in a briefing Tuesday that the Yuchengco-led bank targets to jack up by a “conservative” 15 percent the volume of remittances it will process this year.

Last year, close to $2 billion worth of remittances were coursed through RCBC channels, up 9 percent from 2012.

A record $22.8 billion was remitted to the country by Filipinos abroad in 2013.

RCBC also aims to expand its market share in the remittance business to 12-15 percent this year from 8-9 percent last year, Villanueva said.

“The volumes were picking up in the first quarter … The challenges for us now are how to increase our volume and how to make our service more visible,” he said.

According to Villanueva, one way to remain competitive in the remittance services market is fostering partnerships with non-banks such as money transfer companies and pawnshops.

To date, RCBC has about 100 non-bank partners for remittance transactions worldwide.

“We will focus on tie-ups. We are currently reviewing potential partners in North America and Australia. We have received many solicitations for partnerships,” he said.

Villanueva said half of the remittances that go through RCBC channels comes from the Middle East; over 20 percent were from Europe, 15 percent from the United States and 10 percent from neighboring Hong Kong and Singapore.

About P100 million were generated by RCBC from fees slapped on remittance services last year, Villanueva said.

RCBC also wants to engage more of its remittance services clients into the bank’s card business as well as online banking.

Filipinos abroad are also being enjoined to tap RCBC’s Internet and mobile banking platforms, which last year saw corporate clientele rise 21 percent to 2,000 companies, while retail customers increased 51 percent to about 1 million users.