Banks urged to post remittance charges online for OFWs

MANILA, Philippines – A party-list group urged the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to require banks to display their international remittance prices on their websites for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families to have more informed choices.

Remittance fees vary from bank to bank and the country of origin of the funds.

“We see no reason why regulators cannot compel banks to clearly post their applicable remittance prices for all to see. Banks are already obliged to make public most of their other fees and charges anyway,” ACTS-OFW Representative Aniceto Bertiz III said in a statement on Friday, December 21.

The World Bank currently has a list of remittance rate estimates per country and bank as of the 3rd quarter of 2018. You can view it here. 

ACTS-OFW also called for reduced remittance charges of banks for OFW families to receive more cash.

Bertiz cited the World Bank Remittance Prices report, where it said that banks remain the most expensive means to send cash to the Philippines, with an average cost of 10.51% of the amount sent.

“The report basically implies that for every $200 sent home through banks, our migrant workers pay an average of $21.02 in transfer charges, which is too much,” Bertiz said.

Cash from abroad coursed through banks stood at $23.77 billion from January to October this year, according to the BSP. – Ralf Rivas/Rappler.com