Benise Balaoing

Western Union sees growth in 'reverse remittance' segment in the Philippines. It launches a new app with a 'send' feature allowing Filipinos to send money abroad. Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Western Union sees growth in ‘reverse remittances’

Jekki Pascual

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1759309867915western union 1.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Western Union sees growth in &#x27;reverse remittance&#x27; segment in the Philippines. It launches a new app with a &#x27;send&#x27; feature allowing Filipinos to send money abroad. Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News</div>MANILA -- Western Union is optimistic that the reverse remittance segment is growing in the Philippines as the global money transfer company launched a new app in the Philippines which now includes that feature.Reverse remittances refer to, for example, Filipinos in the Philippines sending money to families in other countries. This, as opposed to the traditional remittances, where Filipinos working abroad send money back home.Its updated app now includes the ‘Send’ feature, where Filipinos can send money to any bank account or e-wallet platform in other countries. Previously, the app only had a ‘Request’ feature for relatives in the Philippines to ask money from OFWs.“The Philippines is primarily an inbound market, but not a lot of people know that a lot of Filipinos also support families across the world. As an example, a lot of Filipinos send their children to study abroad. How do you get the money to your children abroad?” said Ricardo Alair II, Western Union Country Director for the Philippines, Guam, Northern Mariana, and Palau.Alair added that they have partnered with several banks and e-wallet platforms so it’s easy to send money from a Philippine bank or e-wallet to an international account via the new Western Union app which he said has huge connections worldwide.“You can pull from any bank app and use that as payment and as a source of funds so that you can send it abroad,” Alair added.Gregory Laurent, Western Union Vice President for the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, &amp; Pacific Islands, is in Manila for the launch of the app. He said the new app will benefit many Filipinos who are now going digital.“A lot of Filipinos now are using digital means to use services and financial services. So yes it’s gonna be a growth engine for us,” Laurent said.He also highlighted that the app is safe and secured. But he also said that even with the app, they don’t see a decrease in Western Union retail outlets, especially in the provinces. Laurent said both digital and retail will continue to grow.“We don’t see a significant amount of cannibalization, if you would call it like that. Why? It’s because customers still value the retail network in terms of usage,” he added.Alair added that the US, Canada, UAE, Australia have high remittance transactions to and from the Philippines. He said that as inbound remittances grow, outbound also grows.The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has recorded cash remittances in July 2025 rising to $3.18 billion compared to $3.08 billion a year before. The United States remains the top source of remittances to the Philippines.

Western Union is optimistic that the 'reverse remittance' segment is growing in the Philippines.

Western Union is optimistic that the 'reverse remittance' segment is growing in the Philippines.