Western Union partners with Go-Jek's Philippine fintech startup

Philippine e-wallet provider Coins.ph announced a collaboration with global remittance giant Western Union to enable Filipinos to receive international and domestic money transfers directly from the latter's global digital network.
Recently acquired by fast-growing ride-hailing unicorn Go-Jek, the Manila-based fintech startup said it will integrate Western Union into its e-wallet app to allow users in the Philippines to receive money sent to them from overseas directly.
Together with Moneygram, New York-listed Western Union has long been a dominant player in cross-border, cross-currency money transfers, which traditionally rely on large physical networks of local agents ranging from banks to convenience stores and pawnshops. Its digital network spans more than 60 countries while its retail network covers over 200 countries and territories.
“There are many overseas Filipino workers who send money back home regularly and are always looking for additional remittance options,” said Coins.ph co-founder and chief executive Ron Hose in the press statement. “By pairing Coins.ph’s payments technology with Western Union’s expansive global network, we are giving Filipinos a seamless choice to receive money digitally, on the go.”
Molly Shea, senior vice president and general manager of Western Union's Global Money Transfer for the Asia Pacific, said in the statement: "With this collaboration with Coins.ph, we are delighted to offer customers in the Philippines with an unmatched depth of services and capabilities, and convenience right at their fingertips."
According to a World Bank study, the Philippines is one of the world's top remittance-receiving countries. As announced by the Philippines’ central bank, there are an estimated 10 million Filipinos working or residing overseas, who remitted US$16.6 billion through banks in the first seven months of 2018.
Coins.ph was founded by Ron Hose and Runar Petursson in 2014, with an aim to deliver financial services over mobile to people in Southeast Asia who are unserved by traditional banks. It said it has over five million Coins.ph wallet holders in the Philippines, processing thousands of transactions per day, including remittances, bills payment, mobile top-ups, and other services provided by third-party covered financial institutions.
It started out offering crypto exchange services, allowing users to purchase digital currency through its app, and expanded to a broader focus on fintech. Regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Coins.ph said it is the only blockchain-based company in Asia to hold both Virtual Currency and Electronic Money Issuer licenses from a central bank.
The fintech startup said the integration of its blockchain-enabled platform with Western Union’s cross-border platform will allow Filipinos to receive and hold international money transfers initiated from Western Union’s digital network, and directly deposited into Coins.ph e-wallets.
In mid-January, Indonesia-based ride-hailing startup Go-Jek announced its acquisition of a majority stake in Coins.ph for US$72 million. The deal was seen as part of its expansion towards financial services, which launched its GoPay app in Indonesia, enabling financial services such as money transfers, offline payment, insurance and micro-loans.
– Contact us at [email protected]
BN/CG
-
Is 2023 a year of expensive travel? Ben Kwok
How much are you willing to pay for your first trip in three years? Well, depending on who and when, it could be quite costly for Hong Kong travellers. Travellers who want to go outside Hong Kong
-
Environmental performance of old buildings needs to be improved Dr. Winnie Tang
At least 500 new buildings are constructed in Hong Kong every year which generates substantial carbon emissions. The construction industry must urgently look for more environmentally friendly
-
Emissions reduction a top priority for the construction industry Dr. Winnie Tang
The extreme weather around the world recently has forced us to think seriously about the big issue of global warming. Buildings currently account for nearly 40% of energy-related carbon emissions
-
Attorneys-General and ignorance Neville Sarony
Two recent outings by ex-Attorneys-General, one in the UK and the other in Hong Kong, in which they both demonstrated staggering ignorance of the law prompted me to consider the shortcomings of
-
Can the youth speak? Brian YS Wong
A specter haunts the way we think about the youth in our city. The specter is a fundamental failure to take their agency seriously. The most obvious means by which this failure manifests, of course,