AlipayHK and GCash partner launch a cross-border remittance service powered by blockchain technology
Our overseas foreign workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong (HK) are being given a big boost in terms of making their remittances to their families that much easier as GCash partners with AlipayHK, an online payment platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group, and launches a cross-border remittance service. Through their e-wallet platforms, powered by cutting-edge blockchain technology, remittances from HK to the Philippines can be done in mere seconds, with a fast, secure, convenient, transparent and low-cost remittance mode.
The traditional remittance process has always been a pain. The OFW would have to go to a money center in HK, queue up (and lines are often long), before she could send money. Often, the OFW would have to go from one money center to another, canvassing commission and transaction fees, to get the best rate. She can usually do this only during her off-day, a Sunday, and this errand needs to be squeezed into her already-busy day which may include going to church and relaxing in a park with her fellow OFWs.
The inconvenience does not end there. On their family’s side in the Philippines, a family member often has to travel long distances just to go to a money center to get cash. And bringing so much money and commuting back to their home also has its own risks.
Not anymore!
As long as both sender and recipient have the GCash app installed on their mobile phones, and the system has already verified them, money can be easily transferred from mobile phone in HK to mobile phone in the Philippines.
Recently, we witnessed an actual demonstration of this remittance process. Media and bloggers assembled in Manila at a hotel, were connected through a real-time feed to the HK launch, attended by industry leaders such as Jack Ma of Alibaba, Ernest Cu of Globe Telecom, and Jaime Zobel de Ayala of the Ayala Group. Here is Ernest Cu, CEO of Globe Telecom, explaining the partnership.
An OFW in HK was at the HK launch while her family was with us in Manila. She demonstrated how she sent them PhP 10,000 and in just a few seconds, her family, in the function room with us, received the money. Watch this video.
The partnership between Alipay HK and GCash will be a tremendous boost in terms of convenience, safety, and speed for all OFWs in Hong Kong and their families here. We really must have more of such financial inclusion platforms that bring convenience to the users from their digital devices.
