Trump a blow to BPOs, remittances

US President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to bring jobs back home as well as curb immigration are seen impacting on the Philippines’ business process outsourcing (BPO) sector as well as remittances, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

In a report released Thursday titled “Americas and Asia Pacific: Shift in US Policies Could Dampen Trade and Investment, Weaken Growth,” Moody’s said that “while the nature of policies under the next US administration is uncertain, President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign proposals indicate that a shift involving lower US imports and foreign direct investment (FDI), and curbs to immigration is possible.”

“While we expect trade agreements that have already been implemented to remain in place, US policies going forward could incentivize onshoring— the repatriation of jobs at overseas-based suppliers back to the US—and a focus on domestic production and sourcing. The countries that are most reliant on exports of high value-added goods and services, which would offer greatest onshoring potential, are more vulnerable to a potential shift in US trade policies,” the debt watcher said.

In particular, “India and the Philippines could also suffer in the event of policies that disincentivized foreign sourcing of business services,” Moody’s said. These two Asian countries are the biggest BPO destinations in the world. In the Philippines, the BPO sector is among the largest dollar earners, seen to surpass cash remittances from overseas Filipinos in the coming years.

As for Trump’s plan to tighten US immigration rules, Moody’s said it could curb remittances. “A tightening in immigration rules in the US would over time dampen growth in remittances from foreign workers, which are significant for some economies in Latin America and Asia-Pacific,” it said.

“In Asia-Pacific, exposure to remittances is smaller, although they still provide an important source of income for a number of countries. Remittances from the US are largest for the Philippines and Vietnam at 3.3 percent and 3.8 percent of GDP [gross domestic product], and 9.2 percent and 4.1 percent of current account receipts, respectively,” according to Moody’s.

The Philippines and Vietnam are nonetheless expected to withstand any negative impact on remittance flows from the US, Moody’s said.

For one, “the two countries’ current account surpluses and ample foreign exchange reserves would buffer any loss in remittance revenues.”

Citing World Bank data, Moody’s said remittances from the US account for about 34 percent of the total.

Remittance inflows to the Philippines account for 9.7 percent of the GDP, World Bank data showed.

source: business.inquirer.net

Digital money transfers now easily tracked

SAN FRANCISCO—A leading digital money transfer provider is introducing a text update service to money transfer recipients in the Philippines so they are notified when their money is available.




Earlier this year, Xoom Corporation (NASDAQ: XOOM) launched StatusTrak (https://www.xoom.com/track-transfer), a tracking center that provides Xoom customers with a variety of ways to track their money transfers. These methods include e-mail updates, SMS text message updates and 24/7 online and phone support.

“When our customers send money, they want the peace of mind of knowing that their loved ones have received it—which is why we introduced StatusTrak,” says Julian King, Xoom’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate development.

“Now we can notify their family and friends who are receiving money in the Philippines, by texting them to let them know that the money is ready for pickup, delivery or on its way to their bank account. This new feature makes sending and receiving money more convenient for both the sender and recipient, which is very reassuring to our customers,” King adds.

The majority of remittances sent to the Philippines are picked up in cash by the receiving customer. In the past, the sender would have to relay the transaction number to the recipient before the money could be picked up. Now, with Xoom’s convenient tracking service, the sender no longer has to relay the transaction number and alert the recipient that money is available to them. Xoom can automatically send a free text to the recipient.

“According to a report by Business Monitor International (BMI), Filipinos use SMS texts to stay in touch with their loved ones back home, and the number of Filipino mobile phone subscribers has grown to more than 100 million people,” King saide. “The same report showed that Filipinos generate the largest SMS texts volume in the world, accounting for more than 10 percent of global SMS texts.”

source: technology.inquirer.net

Smart, Western Union launch remittance service with rewards

Manila, Philippines - If you’re expecting remittances from relatives in Singapore, now’s the best time to encourage them to send the funds to your Smart mobile number via Western Union.

Smart Money and Western Union are raffling off 15 Samsung Galaxy Mini 5570 units to people in Singapore who will use Western Union’s mobile money transfer services to send remittances to a Smart number from now until August 26.

Each transaction made in participating Western Union agent locations will earn the money sender one electronic raffle entry to the Western Union and Smart Money Free Phone Promo.

The 15 lucky winners announced by the end of the promo period must present the winning transaction’s original receipt and a valid ID to claim their prize.

Smart subscriber-beneficiaries, who already have a Smart Money card, can withdraw the remittance from more than 10,000 BDO, BancNet, Megalink, and ExpressNet automated teller machines (ATMs) nationwide, and from almost 5,000 Smart Money Centers in the country.

They can also use their Smart Money account to do cashless shopping in more than 32 million MasterCard merchants worldwide.

Funds transferred to Smart Money electronic wallets – which are linked to the account holder’s Smart mobile phone – can also be used for mobile payment of utility bills (Meralco, Maynilad, PLDT, etc.), reloading Smart prepaid accounts, and money transfers to other Smart Money accounts.

Smart subscribers without a Smart Money account yet can still receive overseas remittances via Western Union’s mobile money transfer service. If a loved one abroad sends funds to their mobile number, they will receive a text notification advising them to open a Smart Money account and get the funds in any of the 100 Smart Stores nationwide.

Money senders from Singapore will not be the only ones receiving perks from Smart Money. Beneficiaries of all international remittances received via Smart Money will get international text credits worth P150 plus a chance to win up to P45,000 in cash, via Smart Money’s Doble Todo Panalo Promo* which is open until August 15. For more information about the promo and Smart Money’s services, please visit www.smart.com.ph/money

source: philstar.com