By Mary Beatrice Umlas and James Paul Gomez
WorldRemit, a global payments company, views remittances from overseas Filipino workers as a tool to support education in the country.
As the COVID-19 pandemic led many Filipino students to halt their education, WorldRemit country-director Earl Melivo articulated the company’s commitment to fuel education.
“We help ensure that remittances are received in a timely, safe fashion by their beneficiaries in the Philippines. As we all know, those remittances are used for living expenses, paying for bills and other necessities, and building their dreams, including those for the education of their children,” Melivo told the Manila Standard.
According to the Consumer Expectations Survey by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas during the second quarter of this year, 52.2 percent of the 345 OFW household respondents indicated that they allocate their remittances for education.
Students are struggling to remain in class amid the pandemic. In August last year, the number of enrollees dropped from 27.7 million in 2019 to just 23 million.
With the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19, Filipinos are once again facing tighter lockdowns which would potentially limit sources of income for the average household, potentially affecting the number of out-of-school youths again this year.
Aware of the role of remittances in supporting education, Melivo said WorldRemit is doing its part to help OFWs send more of their money to their families back home. “By making our transfers low cost, reliable and safe, we in turn help fulfill the goal of providing financial support on education,” he said.
The company, established in 2010, hopes that Filipinos will recognize which digital financial platforms are more secure and trustworthy than others.
“This significant rise in adoption shows that Filipinos are becoming more tech-savvy, but at the same time they need to understand that not all digital financial platforms are created equal: some platforms are more secure and trustworthy than others,” he said.
The company assured customers that it is constantly working closely with partners and regulators in ensuring that their services are “reliable, free from illicit activities, and safe.”
“This is where WorldRemit’s values and expertise come in. With our knowledge of global finance, digital security and data privacy, we are able to position ourselves as a quality partner for sending and receiving remittances,” said Melivo.
“For us at WorldRemit, we are seeing a lot of opportunity for growth as Filipinos continue to become part of the digital financial ecosystem,” he said.
WorldRemit expects an increase in remittance activity at the start of the school year this Agust. Melivo said the start of the new school year is a major peak for international remittances, second only to Christmas.