Money transfer company MoneyGram International said it is expecting more overseas Filipino workers to avail of its US dollar payouts service which it launched with Philippines-based M. Lhuillier Financial Services Inc.
The service launched last April, made Lhuillier, which operates more than 1,200 outlets nationwide, the first Moneygram agent to offer the service in the Philippines.
Through the service, Filipinos working abroad can send money home from the UAE from any of the MoneyGram outlets like Al Rostamani International Exchange, Al Fardan Exchange and Al Ahalia Exchange. Their beneficiaries will receive cash in US dollars.
“Our strategic alliance will help MoneyGram continue to provide competitive pricing for our customers in the Philippines, and reach out to a wider customer base across the Philippines though M. Lhuillier’s extensive network,” said Richard Meredith, regional director for MoneyGram Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Philippine central bank expects remittances from overseas Filipino workers to stay flat in 2009 at around last year’s level of $16.4 billion. The Philippines is one of the world’s leading sources for skilled and unskilled workers with up to 9 million people, about 10 per cent of the population, living and working in 140 countries