Crypto Remittance

Philippines’ Cryptocurrency Enabled Wallet Can Now Accept Western Union Transfers

Blockchain-based financial services company Coins.ph and Western Union have teamed up to allow the fintech startup’s five million customers receive international and domestic money transfers directly into their mobile wallets in the Philippines.

The collaboration was announced following news of Coins.ph’s acquisition by Indonesian ride-hailing firm Go-Jek last January.

According to their press release, with the integration of the Coins.ph blockchain-enabled platform and Western Union’s cross-border platform, Filipinos can receive and hold international money transfers initiated from Western Union’s digital network in more than 60 countries and retail network in more 200 countries and territories.

Coins.ph co-founder and CEO Ron Hose said the pairing of their payments technology with Western Union’s expansive global network now gives new options for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to remit money, while their loved ones back home get a seamless choice to receiving money digitally.

“There are an estimated 10 million Filipinos working or residing overseas. With this collaboration, we are proud to serve their families back home with even easier access to our suite of services and maximize positive impact on communities in the country,” Hose added.

Western Union in a statement said that remittances are crucial for millions of Filipinos, citing the World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Brief 302, where the Philippines is one of the top remittance receiving countries in the world. Western Union claims it has been providing money transfer services in the Philippines since 1990 and has more than 12,000 Agent locations in the country.

Founded in 2014, Coins.ph is the first virtual currency provider in the Philippines to be licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) with a Virtual Currency Exchange license. Through its e-wallet or mobile wallet, one can easily convert Pesos into Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, or Ethereum.

Image Credit: Edited from Coins.ph

This article first appeared on fintechnews.sg