PH to remain Wells Fargo's biggest remittance hub in Asia

Wells Fargo & Company yesterday said its Philippine remittance business is expected to remain its largest in Asia as the company relies on the 1.5 million Filipinos in the US who remit huge sums of money back home.

Daniel Ayala, head of Global Remittance Services at Wells Fargo, said during a press conference for the company's “20 Years of Remittances to the Philippines” that they compete not just in terms of price but delivering good service with clients.

“The Philippines is the most important in Asia. We have the highest transaction volume and among the top three in terms of value remittances in Asia,” he said.

Wells Fargo provides service to 1.5 million Filipinos in all parts of the US except Chicago. It also offers discount of as much as $4 in transfer fee in other city capital in the US.

“We are the only major US bank with proprietary remittance to the Philippines,” Ayala said.

Ayala refused to divulge its exact value and volume of remittances but cited a study two years ago which said that Wells Fargo was one of the top three providers of value in its space.

“We don’t compete on price alone but focuses on our ability to delivery a whole range of financial services to ensure success of our customers,” he said. He added that going through the regular straight wire transfer providers could be 5 to 10 times more expensive.

Historically, he said, the company has been consistent in its ranking in the region. There are three types of Filipino remitters in the US: Frequent, seasonal and infrequent.

He said this is in contrast to new entrants in the remittance service sector which have been very aggressive in the promotion of their services via huge marketing efforts using the digital space.

At present, Wells Fargo has partnered with 4 banks BPI, BDO, Metrobank and PNB and two remittances services firms MLhuillier and Cebuana Lhuillier.

The company, however, has no plans to establish a local banking unit in the Philippines because they don’t want to compete with local banks but rather concentrate on partnering with them and delivering better service.

To mark its 20th celebration, the company is offering new ExpressSend customers with an eligible Wells Fargo account a zero dollar transfer fee from $5 on their first transfer when they sign up and send money from their account by end December this year.

Wells Fargo opened an office in the country in 1901 to handle money, valuables, and goods by sea. In 1918, Wells Fargo’s worldwide express business model ended, but banking services continued with foreign correspondent connections to Asia.

In 1976, Wells Fargo Global Financial Institution (GFI) business began providing trade, payments, deposits, credit, and other banking solutions to customers in the country.

Today, in addition to the GFI business, Wells Fargo has 1,500 team members providing global customer service and other activities from the Philippines.