Good News : OFW Bank Finally Launched


The long wait is finally over. Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) now has their own bank which was launched on Thursday, January 18, led by none other than the President himself President Rodrigo Duterte.
It can be recalled that President Duterte signed an Executive Order No. 44 last September 28, 2017 prompting the attainment of Philippine Postal Savings Bank by the Land Bank of the Philippines, which was later named as Overseas Filipino Bank.
“Through the Overseas Filipino Bank, we give back what is due to our kababayans abroad through a bank specially dedicated to servicing their banking and financing requirements,” says Duterte in a statement.
The OFB is expected to serve as a “policy bank dedicated to providing financial products and services tailored to the requirements of overseas Filipino,” as per their statement.
“The creation of OFBank, a wholly-owned Savings Bank subsidiary of Landbank that will cater to the needs of the sector, will strengthen the government’s presence in the remittance market and eventually influence lower costs of bank remittance,” the OFB said.
The OFB will not just cater OFWs but also those Filipino immigrants and Filipinos with resident visas. There are a couple of services that the bank will offer including loans, investments, deposits, payment services and remittances.
The OFW bank is expected to do business both internationally and domestically that it even plans to send foreign representatives into Philippine embassies as well as consular offices that will mainly assist the overseas Filipinos.
Foreign representative offices will soon open in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain by the second quarter of 2018.
Those OFB representatives shall engage themselves in non-commercial activities including the dissemination of information regarding the bank’s products and services. Representatives will also perform financial literacy campaigns as well as seminars for OFWs.
The OFBank which is a savings bank of Landbank will offer the following:
 
— Deposit Products: Peso ATM Savings, time deposit, checking accounts, Future Need Savings Plan
— Loan products
— Investment Product: Unit Investment Trust Funds
— Payment services for SSS, OWWA, PhilHealth dues, insurance premium, credit cards, telephone & water bills, housing and business loans & tuition fees of OFWs’ beneficiaries.

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