THE San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Company has tapped Banco De Oro Unibank, Inc. (BDO) as its newest remittance network member.

Wells Fargo is known for its ExpressSend money transfer service while BDO has BDO Remit as its remittance service brand.

With the team-up, Wells Fargo account holders can now send remittances to beneficiaries in the Philippines through a Credit to BDO account (in pesos) or via Cash Pick up Anywhere at BDO's nearly 2,700 remittance pick up locations all over the Philippines.

If the sender chooses to credit the amount to a BDO account, the money will be credited within one hour or less and the recipient can already withdraw the remittance using the BDO ATM debit card at over 7,000 BDO, Megalink, Expressnet and Bancnet ATMs nationwide, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Beneficiaries also have the option to pick up the remittance at any BDO payout locations which include the BDO branches, YES Currency Exchange (formerly SM Forex Counter), SM Business Services, Global Pinoy Center, Savemore and Rural Bank partners all over the Philippines.

"BDO is the country's top remittance bank and Wells Fargo is likewise a very solid player in this arena. We certainly formed a formidable partnership, one that is designed to benefit our clients with even faster, secured and reliable service," said Jonathan Diokno, Senior Vice President and Head for BDO Remittance International Operations.

For his part, Wells Fargo's Global Remittance Services Executive Vice President Daniel Ayala says, "We understand how important remittances are to the Philippines. By helping our Filipino customers reach more locations throughout the country, we hope we can help them stimulate the economy of their homeland by supporting their family and friends."

"Wells Fargo's strong reputation in the banking industry conveys a fast and secured way of sending money to the Philippines. Its network concentrates on community based financial services, which can tap more Filipinos and Americans alike in using their facilities when sending money. Through Wells Fargo's strength, diversity and nationwide coverage, our target is to push the remittance business from states that have significant Filipino population down to the smaller Filipino communities in the US," Diokno said.

Wells Fargo took the 19th spot on Fortune 2009 rankings of America's largest corporations. Since its merger with Wachovia bank, it now has more than 10,000 banking stores, 12,000 Wells Fargo and Wachovia ATMs, and the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com) across North America and internationally. Wells Fargo serves one in three households in America. With its wide network coverage, Filipinos can send remittances over the counter, online banking and even phone banking.

BDO, meanwhile, was recently recognized as the Top Commercial Bank on Overseas Filipinos Remittances for 2009 by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The Bank, which bagged the same award in the previous year, attributed its solid performance on its strong market presence and steady expansion of remittance partners worldwide. Constant efforts to strengthen its international presence have resulted to established connections with thousands of combined remittance offices, partners and agent locations in Asia, Middle East, North America and Europe allowing to serve more Filipinos globally.