PLDT develops app for remittance needs of Pinoys living in the US
PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) announced a partnership with a New Jersey, United States-based remittance company that will bring down transaction costs for Filipinos sending money back home.
PLDT, through PLDT Global Corp., said in a statement Wednesday it partnered with UniTeller Financial Services to develop an online portal and mobile application targeting the inbound money remittance market from the US.
“This partnership with UniTeller empowers our fellow Filipinos in the US to conveniently and securely send money to their loved ones in the Philippines using their mobile phones,” PLDT Global chair Eric Alberto said in a statement.
PLDT Global is the international marketing, sales and operating arm of PLDT that reaches out to more than 10 million Filipinos overseas.
“This new service will be a welcome solution for our Fil-Am market as it fits well their digital lifestyle. With this mobile remittance app, they can send money anytime and anywhere they are,” said Alberto, who is also PLDT’s executive vice president and head of enterprise and international and carrier business.
PLDT said the new service can be accessed by Filipinos based in the US by registering at www.uniteller.com/smart. It said requirements include a bank account, credit or debit card details. The user only needs to type in the name of the Philippine beneficiary and send the money “instantly.”
“We would like to make the practice of money remittance easier, faster and more convenient for our relatives in the US who have always been there for us,” PLDT Global president and CEO Alex Caeg said in the same statement.
“With this new mobile app, sending money would be as easy as texting or updating our Facebook status. It doesn’t take much time, expense and effort, unlike the conventional way that entails going to a bank or a remittance center,” he added.
UniTeller Financial Services, a New Jersey-based corporation, is one of the market leaders in the international remittances service with a network of more than 30,000 paying locations around the world.
It has an office at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City that takes care of the money remittance fulfillment to recipients in the Philippines.
In line with this partnership, PLDT announced a so-called Christmas promo that allows clients to avail of the free transaction fee for money remittances to the Philippines until the end of the year.
