BDO Unibank (BDO) is now a partner of UAE's leading bank Emirates NBD for the latter's money transfer service called DirectRemit 60 Seconds.

The service, offered last December to the Philippines and is known to be the fastest direct bank transfer service in the UAE, enables transfer of Philippine peso to BDO bank accounts in 60 seconds. This mostly benefits the remittance beneficiaries of the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) stationed in the various parts of the UAE region such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

"UAE is host to more than 700,000 Filipinos who diligently work to be able to send money back to their families in the Philippines. This is another channel that will bring security and ease to our remitters," said BDO senior vice president for remittance distribution Geneva T. Gloria.

OFW remittances are one of the largest in the world reaching about US$24 billion annually.

Gloria described the alliance with Emirates as a good fit because of the resemblance between the two banks. Both are leading industry players in their respective countries and serving considerable number of Filipino clients.

"Most of their Filipino clients who maintain an account with them are also enrolled in Emirates' online banking facility. Using this platform, these customers can send money to the Philippines anytime, anywhere and can also pay their bills, insurance premiums or loans payments via their BDO accounts," she added.

BDO is a full-service universal bank providing an extensive range of corporate, commercial and retail banking services that include traditional loan and deposit products, treasury, trust banking, investment banking, private banking, cash management, leasing and finance, remittance, insurance, retail cash cards and credit card services. It is ranked as the largest bank in terms of total assets, loans, deposits, capital and trust funds under management based on published statements of condition as of September 30, 2014.

Emirates NBD, on the other hand, is the leading banking group in the UAE and a product of a merger between Emirates Bank International (EBI) and the National Bank of Dubai (NBD). It is into corporate, retail, private, Islamic and investment banking throughout the region. Its vision is to be globally recognized as the most valued financial services provider based in the Middle East. Emirates NBD is a market leader across core business lines and the leading retail banking franchise, with more than 220 branches and over 885 ATMs and Cash Deposit Machines (CDMs) spread across the country and overseas

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