Being one of the largest source of foreign exchange income in the Philippines, remittances insulate the domestic GDP from external forces by maintaining a stable supply of dollars into the systems. Many players in the country have also recognized the opportunity to tap into the immense market opportunity 

Fremont, CA: The Japanese FinTech company, Digital Wallet Corporation (DWC) acquired the Philippines-based remittance and foreign exchange firm Speed Money Transfer (SMTP) for an undisclosed value. SMTP operates across Philippines and Australia; it will be renamed as Digital Wallet Philippines after the completion of the acquisition process. The go-ahead for the deal and the name-changing has been approved by the country’s central bank--the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

As reported by the World Bank, the Philippines was the fourth-highest global recipient of remittance in 2018 at the value of $34 billion, with Mexico preceding at $36 billion, China at $67 billion, and India at $79 billion.

The CEO of DWC explained that the company’s aim for Philippines business is to allow unbanked customers to have the advantage of financial services like remittance, foreign exchange, and payments via mobile devices. DWC has projected plans for the provision of access to investment projects in the Philippines through the Digital Wallet project. Pragmatic opportunities like this were previously unachievable in the Philippines. Acquisition in the Philippines has been the first step in DWC’s global expansion strategy to launch its mobile wallet services, Smiles Mobile Remittance (Smiles), to Asia and Europe. 

Being one of the largest source of foreign exchange income in the Philippines, remittances insulate the domestic GDP from external forces by maintaining a stable supply of dollars into the systems. Many players in the country have also recognized the opportunity to tap into the immense market opportunity. 

SendFriend, a blockchain remittance startup is up against DWC, competing over the Philippines market. It raised a total of $1.7 million in January from several investors such as MIT Media Lab, Barclays, Ripple, Techstars, Mahindra Finance, 2020 Ventures, the Mastercard Foundation, and 8 Decimal Capital. It was founded in 2017, SendFriend caters to Filipinos working abroad to safely transfer USD to PHP at the most affordable rate available.