WISE PHILIPPINES hopes to secure this year its first partnership with a local bank for the use of its cross-border payments infrastructure.
“I think that’s always the objective, but we should give credit that banks take time as well. These are big projects for them, we should give them time,” Wise Chief Executive Officer Kristo Käärmann said at a media briefing on Monday.
Wise Philippines Country Manager Areson I. Cuevas said their platform can help banks lower their transfer fees.
“We would like to speak with more banks, but no timeline yet. The Wise platform, I think that’s probably a discussion for another time in Philippines. It’s a very successful feature where banks who want to improve their own international payments, to make them cheaper or faster, will use our services in the background. So, it’s like a white label within the bank,” he said.
Mr. Cuevas said depositors are already able to transfer funds from their bank accounts to Wise Philippines via InstaPay.
Wise Philippines also hopes to eliminate hidden foreign exchange fees as Filipinos continue to globalize with the rise of the gig economy, and to help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
According to a study commissioned by Wise, Filipinos unknowingly lost approximately P8.37 billion to hidden foreign exchange (FX) fees in 2023.
“The reason why we’re having this research and sharing it with you is to make sure that a lot more Filipinos get to learn about hidden costs,” Mr. Cuevas said.
According to the study, 72% of the respondents said they “somewhat” or “fully” understand international payment costs, yet only 18% fully recognize the impact of hidden FX markups.
The study also found that 57% believe they understand the cost of payments but they actually don’t, while 25% are unaware of the true cost of remittances.
“The findings, drawn from independent studies by Edgar, Dunn & Co. and YouGov, emphasize the need for greater fee transparency in cross-border payments, and better consumer awareness of hidden fees,” Wise Philippines said.
Money lost to hidden fees affect Filipinos with cross-border financial needs, including parents sending funds for overseas education, OFWs, gig economy workers, and their families, it said.
Foreign exchange service providers should provide a clear breakdown of the costs associated with every transaction, show the foreign exchange mark-up or the difference between the prevailing central bank reference/guiding rate and the exchange/conversion rate, and to stop using misleading terms like “free” and “0% commission,” which often hide extra charges or markups in the fine print, Wise Philippines added. — A.M.C. Sy
