Overseas Filipino Bank Launched To Cater To Our OFWs Specifically

Great news is waiting for our kababayans who are working abroad. OFWs can now expect to find it easier to invest because of a new bank that is specifically built to cater to the needs of the Filipinos working abroad.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said in a press statement that was held on Thursday for the launch of Overseas Filipino Bank (OFB) that the bank will be open to this sector financial opportunities previously available only to more financially-savvy investors.

OFW Bank
PHOTO CREDIT: Sun Star

This is a fulfillment of a campaign promise that President Rodrigo Duterte did a while back.

“The Landbank and the Bureau of the Treasury are exploring ways of mobilizing the savings of overseas-based Filipinos for them to invest in the country’s capital markets,”

Dominguez also mentioned that the OFB will be helping provide financing so that the returning workers can build their homes or start their own businesses.

The Landbank of the Philippines and the Department of finance are the ones who put efforts into making the OFB possible.

Last week, the approval of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) for the acquisition of Postal Savings Bank (Postbank). This would then be converted into this financial institution for overseas Filipinos.

“It’s just a matter of the administrative integration of the bank. It’s an administrative thing and all the approvals have been cleared away for the acquisition,”

He also mentioned that they are just fulfilling the president’s campaign promise.

“You know, we are just fulfilling [President Duterte’s] campaign promise one by one. First, tax reform, then this new bank.”

According to Inquirer, the OFB was originally conceptualized as a bank catering exclusively to the needs of overseas Filipino workers. But later, Dominguez thought that it will be better if it also provides service to all foreign-based Filipinos so as to make it more inclusive in making sure to keep the government’s financial inclusion agenda.

He also added that by buying out the Postbank, the OFB just saved it from bankruptcy.

To open an an OFW Account at the Overseas Filipino Bank, please click here.

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