PNB, Bank of China tie up in handling remittances
Philippine National Bank (PNB), the country’s seventh largest bank in terms of assets, has signed an agreement with the Bank of China (BOC) in handling remittances of Chinese nationals who are based in Italy. PNB’s tie-up with BOC expands the market coverage PNB Italy SpA, which was established primarily to facilitate remittances of Filipinos who are in Italy.
PNB, acknowledging the significance of the signed deal, said that there are about 745,000 Chinese overseas contract workers in Italy at present and therefore the agreement a real expansion in their market. 2008 remittances to China reached $24 billion, according to data from World Bank.
In their agreement, remittances of Chinese nationals could be coursed through PNB who will in turn transfer the money to a BOC account, through the latter’s Manila office or any other bank accounts of the remitters’ beneficiaries.
Aside from its tie-up with BOC, PNB said it is still looking to establish more strategic partnership to expand its non-Filipino remittance business, particularly in Europe.
PNB claims to have the widest international footprint among local banks. It has a network comprising 110 branches, offices and subsidiaries spread across the Asia-Pacific region, North America, Europe and the Middle East.
Its remittances for 2008 reached about $2.6 billion, which accounts for 16 percent of total remittances handled by local banks. PNBÂ ranked third in terms of remittance volume, competing aggressively with Banco de Oro and Bank of the Philippine Islands.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said remittances coursed through banks last year reached a record volume of $17.3 billion. This year, BSP has projected an increase of 6 percent from this volume.
April 8, 2010
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Tags: agreement, Bangko Sentral, bank, Bank of China, banking, Boc, contract, Foreign exchange, money, network, OFW, Philippine National Bank, Philippines, PNB, remittances · Posted in: banking, Corporations, economy, finance, Foreign exchange, money, OFWs, Philippine banks, Philippines
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