Working abroad has always been regarded as a privilege by many Filipinos back then as it is to this day. Apart from having to earn a significantly better wage than people of the same job or profession locally, overseas workers are also contributive to the country’s economy, thanks to the money they bring back home in a form of remittance; hence, them being labelled as the modern-day heroes of the country.
As noble a practice doing remittances for families back home in the country is, the process involved in the practice is not necessarily outright honest especially on the part of the remittance centers which handles it.
It, therefore, pays to know of the goings-on behind every remittance transfer you do as knowing how the process works behind-the-scenes can literally save you lots of money you never know you could with wise decisions in choosing the right remittance center that will handle your money for its transfer into the home country where your family resides.
The following are the two things to remember if you are to remit some money to the Philippines:
- Hidden Charges
Generally speaking, remittance centers profit in your remittance overtly because of the transaction fees involved in the process of sending your money abroad back home. Little do more remitters know, however, is that many remittance centers gain more profit with every transaction they make covertly in a form of poor exchange rate (i.e. giving you lower exchange rate when it is supposedly higher based on the existing and real currency exchange rate) and the alleged “back-end fees.”
Poor exchange rate happens when you are given a lower-than-should-be conversions which cuts some amount from the overall money you are to send over to the recipient.
In addition to poor exchange rates, “back-end fees” also takes a certain portion of the remaining amount the recipient is about to received. Although how much is taken per every remittances as a result of this fee varies, some remittance centers get as much as 40%—some even higher—of the money to be sent over to the recipient before and after conversion which is a lot especially for remittances of huge amounts.
- Not All Remittance Centers are the Same
How a certain remittance center may vary from its competitors may be reflective on how much it charges its clients when doing transactions with them.
Generally, majority of the remittance centers charge a very high amount when dealing with its clients, mostly whose costs are hidden to the unwary client. Most often than not, remittance centers who do fast transactions belong to such category.
However, there also exists certain remittance centers that charge lower than their competitors either at the expense on how fast the remittance will be processed or simply as a result of effective business strategy.
It pays to know your options wherever you may be in this world when sending money to family back home. Here are some ways to send money to Philippines that you may want to consider for your next remittance.
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