It’s no accident that transferring money to the Philippines is so easy. Almost any English speaking country you go to worldwide….you’ll find overseas Filipinos a significant segment of the work force. And they all regularly send part of their income home every pay period.
That’s right. The primary reason Filipinos go overseas to work is to support their families. It doesn’t cost much to live in the Philippines but, truth be known, good paying jobs are hard to come by. Yet many Filipinos do have valuable skills and if they can market those skills abroad it gives them a chance to transferring money to the Philippines.
Some of the countries that have large amounts of Filipino overseas workers are the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. Those of course are the largest English speaking countries. Since Filipinos are raised with English as their second language, it’s natural that they would gravitate toward those countries for work opportunities. Every payday, you’ll see them queing at the ‘money transfer’ shops transferring money to the Philippines.
Because they’re not used to expensive life styles back in their own country, they’re usually able to save a large percentage of their overseas earnings. This means they’re transferring large amounts of money to the Philippines every month.
Yes, transferring money to the Philippines every month is part of their overseas experience. Back home, the money makes a big difference to the families who receive it too. And of course, when they transfer money to the Philippines, it enriches the Philippine economy in other ways too.
Back home that money goes for food, clothes for the kids (Filipinos like big families), education costs and sometimes a little fun too. These overseas bread winners are highly appreciated for transferring money to the Philippines regularly.
Many overseas Filipino workers use the services of international money remittance companies for transferring money to the Philippines. They could do it online but more often than not they don’t have the local bank accounts required to do it that way.
Whereas most Americans use the online services, the Filipinos like the ‘money remittance shop’ just fine. They’re accustomed to dealing with ‘cash’ and things that they can see. They get paid in cash, they take it to their local agency, they use that service for transferring money to the Philippines…..and they spend the rest locally. It’s a pretty simple routine.