The Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank), the government’s official digital bank, raised a total of $203,200 or P10.285 million from the recently held Retail Dollar Bonds (RDB) offering of the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
From Sept. 15 to Oct. 1, 2021, OFBank – a subsidiary of the Land Bank of the Philippines – facilitated 242 transactions from 33 countries and territories for the RDBs.
Topping the list of countries with the most investors are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Israel, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
OFBank provided overseas Filipino workers an easy, simple, and convenient way to invest in RDBs through the bond purchase feature of its mobile banking app. This allowed them to access a fixed-income opportunity, enabling their investments to earn more than traditional savings.
“Investing in government securities is now easier anytime, anywhere with the OFBank MBA. Our account holders don’t need to go outside and line up and accomplish various documents in a physical bank. Through our digital purchasing platform, we are also seeing an increased demand from our kababayans overseas to grow their income and expand their investment portfolio,” said OFBank President and CEO Leila Martin.
While the selling period for the maiden RDB offer has passed, Martin said that it helped raise awareness and appreciation among OFWs to start investing their hard-earned money in bonds, complementing their savings, insurance, real estate assets, and income from small businesses.
Considered as relatively risk-free options being offered by the state, bonds were only previously available to institutional investors.
However, this recent offer opened the door to Filipino retail investors, especially because of its affordable initial investment of $300. Investors were also allowed to top up in $100 increments, potentially increasing their earnings over time.
The attractive interest rates of RDBs also drew in OFWs, with 1.375 percent for a 5-year term and 2.25 percent for a 10-year term. The interest payments will be credited to their account every quarter and automatically converted into Philippine peso.