A new remittance system that will allow for a safer, faster and cheaper remittances by OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) will be implemented by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) starting on the third quarter of the year.

This is the new Philippine Payments and Settlements System or Philpass Remit System. Under this new system, the fee will be reduced to P50 per remittance transaction, resulting to savings of P100 to P500, as the current system charges ranges from P150 to P550.

BSP said the Philpass Remit System ensures safer, faster and cheaper means of remittance transaction.

The system involves the use of the BSP-Philpass as the local clearinghouse for the transfer of remittances from a local bank to another bank where the OFW beneficiary maintains an account.

This project was undertaken jointly by the BSP with the Association of Bank Remittance Officers Inc. (ABROI) through a memorandum of agreement signed last December.

The scheduled implementation of the project was supposed in the first quarter of the year, however, only one bank was able to migrate to the new system since the MOA was signed.

The central bank said they will need to wait for the other member banks to resolve their issues on hardware and system connectivity, so they can finally migrate before the new remittance system will be fully operational.

RCBC Bankard recently launched a new credit card which is targeted to serve the upscale needs of discerning shoppers.

The new credit card from RCBC was created in tie-up with Barcelona-based clothing brand Mango and Mastercard. Called the Mango-RCBC Bankard MasterCard, it is the latest addition to MasterCard’s growing roster of value-driven cards.

Holders of Mango-RCBC Bankard MasterCard could avail of of exclusive members-only sale from Mango, one of Europe’s multinational brands renowned globally for designing, manufacturing and marketing stylish women’s and men’s clothing accessories. They would also have priority access to next season’s catalog features and first hand advice on the latest offers.

Aside from those, cardholders are also included in a rewards program that enables them to earn reward points that can be exchanged for Mango items.

And being a MasterCard, it can be used in over 200 countries worldwide, including of course, in any of the 1,223 Mango stores located in 92 countries around the world.

Oscar Biason, president and CEO of RCBC Bankard said, “Most women nowadays are decision-makers who live multi-functional roles. As such, they have disposable incomes that let them spend on their priorities, one of which is shopping for nice clothes. With the launch of Mango-RCBC Bankard MasterCard, we help empower a lot of women by giving them more choices to indulge their flair for fashion, thanks to the many privileges and perks that the card offers.”

RCBC Bankard is one of the leading credit card issuers known for delivering innovative products of the best value and quality supported by superb service.

First Gas Power Corp. is planning to borrow $80 million from local banks, and the Lopez-controlled is seeking the approval of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to borrow the said amount, which was said to be higher that what was being considered earlier by the company, which was only $50 million.

The company is the one who owns and operates the 1,000-megawatt Santa Rita combined cycle natural gas-fired power plant in Batangas.

The Santa Rita power plant, according to the company’s website, uses natural gas from the Malampaya Gas Field in offshore Northwest Palawan.

The BSP, last week, approved the Philippine National Oil Corp. – Exploration Corp.’s own foreign currency deposit unit (FCDU) loan worth $9 million. The agency said that last year, total FCDU loans decreased by almost nine percent at $4.95 billion compared to what was reported in 2008.

If the basis would be the borrower type, private loans were lower last year at $3.182 billion compared to the $5.334 billion in 2008. Private FCDU loans are mainly availed by public utilities and exporters. Residents accounted for 69 percent total loan portfolio.

After securing a license to operate in Europe, iRemit made true to its commitment of servicing overseas Filipino worker (OFWs) staying in the region with iRemit Europe.

Now, still the largest Filipino-owned non-bank remittance company, iRemit wants to strengthen its presence in Europe as it plans to open more branches in major cities in the region.

iRemit will be opening more branches in Europe, namely in Milan, Florence, Padua, Plato, Venice, Genoa and Naples, as stated in the company’s disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Aside from those mentioned, iRemit president and chief operating officer Harris Jacildo said the also plans to open branches in France and Switzerland to tap and provide service to the the fast-growing European OFW market.

“This ambitious plan to open branches in the region simultaneously and aggressively pursue opportunities in other territories is a very strategic move that characterizes iRemit as an industry trailblazer,” Jacildo said.

And as Bansan Choa, chairman and chief executive officer of iRemit, the company deemed its high time to move into “previously unchartered territories” to take advantage of opportunities to expand the business and extend its target market to include more Filipinos and other nationals.

iRemit was founded in 2001, and to date still remains to be the largest Filipino-owned non-bank remittance company in the Philippines. It has already established presences in 27 countries in North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East with more than 5,000 payout partners nationwide.

The auction of the retail treasury bonds of the Philippine government has been completed and according to National Treasurer Roberto Tan, $500 million have been raise from the sale of the retail, multi-currency bond.

Tan was happy to report that they completed the total tender of $5000 million, based on the preliminary information he had received. These RTBs were sold to small investors and institutional buyers as well.

Before conducting the auction, Tan and his group composed of officials from the government and issue underwriters went to different countries and conducted “financial literacy seminars” for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and discussed with them the benefits of investing the said retail bonds. Tan said they were received warmly during those seminars by OFWs from the United States, Europe and some parts of Asia.

Manila scrapped Tuesday’s sale of P8.5 billion ($192 million) worth of 5-year bonds following the retail bond issue. Tan said there were no plans to cancel more Treasure debt auctions after the bond offer.

According to the preliminary reports received by Tan, the government was able to raise nearly $350 million from an auction of the foreign currency bonds on April 21. The rest were sold during the public offer which ended on Tuesday.

$200 million worth of 3-year US dollar bonds were sold at a coupon rate of 2.875% at an auction on April 21. The government also sold 5-year US dollar bonds at a coupon rate of 4.125% to raise $98 million.

Meanwhile, Manila also auctioned 5-year and 3-year Euro bonds worth $4 million Euros and 35 million Euros, respectively.

In spite of the prediction of some economist that the peso will soon weaken, especially during the coming elections, it continues it upwards surge. According to American banking giant Citigroup, it even sees the peso strengthening to 43 to $1.

According to Citigroup economist Jun Trinidad, the country’s “export earnings as well as the tightening of the monetary policies in the Asia Pacific region would continue to support the strengthening of the peso against the US dollar.”

Trinidad pointed out that “indicators of onshore stock of foreign exchange reserves and foreign exchange net inflows in the balances of payments (BOP) as well as other accounts do not confirm that Philippine financial markets are being swamped by a surge of offshore flows consistent with strong risk taking positions that are being seen in other regional markets.”

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) released its latest data showing that country’s gross international reserves (GIR) went up by 18.2 percent to a new record of level of $46.16 billion as of the first quarter while BSP-registered portfolio investments or “hot money” surged by 602 percent to $384.75 million.

“If we focus on either the GIR that serves as a catch-all account for current and previous net flows arising from trade and capital account transactions or the net forward book of the BSP, the year-to-date differential of either stock measure including its sum did not show unusually hefty increases that can further justify rapid nominal exchange rate appreciation,” Trinidad added.

$500 million retail treasury bonds will be auctioned by the government on April 21. These RTB were intended for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

National Treasurer Roberto Tan is confident that they would be able to sell the whole $500 million after conducting a series of successful briefing in different parts of the globe.

Tan said that they were very pleased with the warm reception from OFWs from the United States, Europe and some parts of Asia.

Tan led of delegate composed of government officials and issue underwriters. They went to different countries conducting “financial literacy seminars” for OFWs to discuss the benefits of investing in the said OFW bonds.

The bonds, which are also known as the Fixed Rate Multicurrency Retail Treasury Bond, will be offered to investors from April 21 to April 27. First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), BPI Capital Corp., Development Bank of the Philippines, PNB Capital & Investment Corp., and BDO Capital & Investment Corp. were tapped as issue managers of the RTBs.

The investment instruments are available in three and five year bonds, comprising of $400 million in dollar denominated bonds and 75 million in euro-denominated bonds.

At least 20 percent of the $500 million bonds are intended for retail investors, and the rest are for institutional investors. Investments ranging from $100 to $100,000 will be considered retail.

To encourage OFWs to invest in the multi-currency bonds, the government is offering them exemption from the 20 percent tax usually slapped on said instruments. This is in line with the governments thrust to provide overseas Filipinos an investment facility for their earnings.

After its continued rally last week, where it breaks into the P44 mark, economists say that peso is seen to weaken anew, adding that it would be seen retreating back to P46-to-$1 at the height of the local and national elections.

Having a pause from its seven-day rally against the dollar last Thursday, the local currency ended 15 centavos weaker at P44.95 per $1 from Wednesday’s P44.80 per $1 finish.

However, traders noted this weakening as a “correction of the peso” after enjoying seven straight days of gains. Marcelo E. Ayes, senior vice-president of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. said, “The correction was expected. Technically, the peso was due for a correction”

He even added that the decline was a little tame, as he was expecting the peso to hit P45.10 to P45.20.

Meanwhile Tim Condon of the Netherlands-based investment bank ING said the local currency is likely to retrace the 46 level after appreciating on the back of  of benign inflation and within ceiling budget deficit figures.

“We expect the US dollar to Philippine peso to retrace above P46 to $1 as the political risk intensifies around the May general election,” he stressed.

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. PNB  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.

By December of this year, we could be having new designs on our peso bills. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) would begin circulating by December the new peso bills, while coins will follow suit after two years.

According to the BSP, aside from having new designs, the new bills and coins will also have new security features which would make it easier to detect counterfeit money.

BSP in its primer said, “As a matter of practice, central banks regularly change the designs of their money – whether coins or banknotes – to guard against counterfeiter. By making it very difficult and costly for counterfeiters to produce exact copies of our money, we protect the integrity of our currency against criminals.”

The peso bills, from the 20-peso to the 1,000-peso, and coins from the one-centavo to the 10-peso, are all up for a facelift. Once the new designs have begun circulating, BSP said the existing peso bills would remain valid and legal tender in the next three years, after which they will be phased out.

“Based on previous currency retirement or demonization program of the BSP, this will give enough time for the public to make a full transition to our new generation currency,” BSP said, adding that there would be a separate schedule for the coins.

The new bills will feature historically important Filipinos, heritage sites and natural wonders. Among the revision in the design is the inclusion of the image of the late former President Corazon C. Aquino in the P500 bill, which already features husband Benigno Aquino, Jr.

The coins will be having national symbols in the new design.