Vancity launches new low cost Smart Money remittance program for sending money to families and friends in the Philippines

December 19th, 2011 - Vancouver, BC - Vancity has partnered with the Philippines’ leading wireless services provider, Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and top Philippine bank, BDO Unibank Inc. (BDO) to launch the remittance program via Smart Money™, which enables the transfer of pesos to the Philippines quickly, conveniently and inexpensively.

“Mobile banking in the Philippines has become increasingly popular and the Filipino community is one of the fastest growing diverse cultural groups in British Columbia” said Randy Johal, Director, FX Sales & Operations, Vancity Group. “ We’re always looking at ways to serve our members needs and introducing the Smart Money remittance program provides the opportunity for our members to send money back home for only $3 per transaction during our promotional period which extends until March 31st, 2012.”

Smart Money is a secure way to transfer money to the Philippines using the beneficiary’s Smart mobile phone. Once the remittance is sent from a Vancity branch, the recipient is notified through a free text message and the funds are readily available in their Smart Money account. There are 47 million subscribers of Smart cell phones in the Philippines.

“The Vancity Smart Money remittance program made it possible to support my family by sending funds to their Smart mobile cell phone. Love and the well being of my family is the driving force that makes me decide to send money back to the Philippines,” said Vancity member Marlyn Santa Elena. “The service is affordable and reliable. My family loves it.”

“We know how important it is to Filipinos everywhere in the world to share with their loved ones back home, especially with Christmas fast approaching,” said Tricia Dizon, head of Financial Services at Smart Communications . “This will allow those sending money to the Philippines to save on remittance cost, and benefit from the security and convenience of sending directly to a Smart subscriber, via Smart Money, the world’s first reloadable cash card linked to a mobile phone.”

Here’s how it works:

• Members can go into a Vancity branch to send a mobile remittance to their family/friends in the Philippines. Recipients must have a Smart Mobile phone in order to receive the notification of funds being sent.
• Individuals sending funds need to know the recipient’s mobile Smart phone number to ensure the correct person receives the funds.
• The beneficiary receives a free text notification on their phone within minutes of the transfer to advise funds are available. If they have a Smart Money account and card linked to their Smart mobile phone number, they can access the funds immediately. If they only have a Smart mobile phone they will be advised in the transfer of funds notification to apply for a Smart Money account and card which will cost a one time set-up fee of 120PHP which will allow them access to the funds.
• The maximum amount that currently can be sent through this service is 40,000 Pesos (approximately $900 Canadian dollars).