BDO, Emirates’ top bank form new cash remittance service

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The country’s largest lender Banco de Oro Unibank has teamed up with Emirates NBD, the leading bank in the United Arab Emirates, for a new cash remittance service touted to be the fastest bank transfer service out of this Middle Eastern territory.

BDO and Emirates NBD recently launched the money transfer service called “DirectRemit 60 Seconds,”which enables the transfer of money from UAE to BDO bank accounts in 60 seconds. This is seen to benefit households which are the beneficiaries of overseas Filipino workers stationed in the various parts of the UAE such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

“UAE is host to more than 700,000 Filipinos who diligently work to be able to send money back to their families in the Philippines. This is another channel that will bring security and ease to our remitters,” BDO senior vice president for remittance distribution Geneva Gloria said in a press statement on Friday.

The Philippines is one of the countries with the biggest inward remittances reaching about $24 billion annually.

Gloria said the alliance with Emirates was a “good fit,” citing the resemblance between the two banks. Both are leading industry players in their respective countries and serving considerable number of Filipino clients.

“Most of their Filipino clients who maintain an account with them are also enrolled in Emirates’ online banking facility.

Using this platform, these customers can send money to the Philippines anytime, anywhere and can also pay their bills, insurance premiums or loans payments via their BDO accounts,” she added.

Emirates NBD – a product of a merger between Emirates Bank International and the National Bank of Dubai – is into corporate, retail, private, Islamic and investment banking throughout the region. Its vision is to be globally recognized as the most valued financial services provider based in the Middle East. It is a market leader across core business lines and the leading retail banking franchise, with more than 220 branches and over 885 automated teller machines (ATMs) and cash deposit machines (CDMs) across the country and overseas.

BDO is the largest bank in the Philippines in terms of total assets, loans, deposits, capital and trust funds under management.