You all have your own reasons why you work abroad. At the end of the day, one of the goals is to send money to your family in the Philippines. After all, all the sacrifices and hard work are for your family as well.
Here’s the challenge: finding a reliable money remittance center that will ensure that the hard-earned money you will send will reach your family’s hands safe, sound, and complete up to the last centavo. There are many fly-by-night remittance centers that take advantage of the OFW’s situation and you don’t want your money to end up with them.
Don’t worry. Here’s a guide on how, what, where, and when you should send money to your loved ones back home:
Choose a reliable and convenient remittance partner
Back in the day, there are few options available that allows OFW to send money back to the Philippines. With the advancement in technology, the options are endless.
The safest way to send money back home is through ATM service or bank remittance. All you have to do is to deposit money on any Philippine banks and your loved ones can get the money upon withdrawal. BDO, BPI, PNB, and Metrobank are some of the stable and reputable banks you can use to facilitate money remittance. Convenience and accessibility are also a big plus, so make sure you consider that when choosing a remittance partner.
Aside from banks, here are your other options:
- MoneyGram, which offers home delivery, cash pick-up, ATM service through LBC ATM Card, or online transfer.
- Western Union Philippines, although the fees can be more expensive compared to other remittance options.
- Xoom Money Transfer, wherein although money transfer is safe and fast, the exchange rate is lower and it will take time before your family will receive the money.
- TransferWise, which is cheaper than Xoom and transfers money using real-time exchange rate.
- Online transfer services such as Paypal wherein transfer is real-time, but fees may be higher and exchange rate is lower than the actual.
Take note of the current exchange rate
This is crucial. The exchange rate now is different two days ago, which is why it is important to pay attention to the trend. After all, it could affect the amount of money you will be sending and a few centavos could make a difference.
It may be tricky to do this since it requires strict monitoring and you may not have enough time to do so. Nonetheless, pay attention to what is going on around you since it will help you determine whether it is best to hold on or remit your hard-earned money.
Postal service is a big no-no
There will always be a risk of losing money while in transit and you surely don’t want that to happen. At the same time, it will take time before it reaches your loved ones.
Maximize your mobile phone
Let’s say you don’t have access to Internet all the time. That’s fine. You can always rely on your mobile phone to send money to your family. Globe and Smart has remittance services for OFWs that allows you to remit within a few clicks. This way, you can still send money anytime, anywhere.
Always compare the services available
From the list of remittance partners enumerated above, it only shows that there are lots of options you can choose from. Before you decide on anything, make sure to compare the services offered by remittance centers. Know their policies on exchange rates, remittance fees, speed of transfer, and convenience to help you decide which is the best remittance partner for you.