Most OFWs have been continuously in search for the fastest way to send money to Philippines. Remittance is a big thing for Filipinos since many of them are overseas workers who want to send money to their families back home. Most remittance services take an average of 3-5 days to transfer the money, and that’s fine for most people. However, there are those instances when extra cash must be sent right away, yet the person sending the money is halfway around the world away.
Accomplishing this was almost unthinkable just a decade or two ago, but it’s so easy these days that it has made remittances a lot faster and easier. The following are ones with services that claim to send money within minutes from other countries all the way to the Philippines.
Perhaps the most well-known remittance service on this list, Western Union does offer a quick online transfer option that cost a bit more, but can get your money sent in a matter of minutes. Western Union is by far the oldest establishment in this list, having been founded way back in 1851. Tons of branches can be found throughout the country. Therefore, if you are looking for one that has a good bit of reputation behind it, then this is a solid choice for you.
Perhaps Western Union’s closest rival on this list, MoneyGram has also been in the game for a long time, having been founded in 1940. It’s also a well-known company that’s well-known for its remittance service with outlets throughout the country. You can go for MoneyGram for mostly the same reasons as Western Union, especially if you’ve been looking for an alternative with roughly the same kind of service.
With 13,834 pickup locations in the Philippines, Xoom offers instant deposits to BDO, Metrobank, and PNB, as well as fast services to other banks. This company has been making a name for itself in the country, and it may even start going toe-to-toe with Western Union and MoneyGram. Xoom was acquired by PayPal for over $1 billion on July 2015, which now makes it an even bigger company than before and a serious contender in the market.
Like Xoom, it has been on the up and up lately, providing remittance services for over 50 countries around the world. They boast high locked-in online exchange rates and guaranteed security with a money-back guarantee. But if you don’t want o do things entirely online, there are actually a few Transfast outlets in the country as well, just in case you want to get the money up front.
Mostly operating in the Philippines, India, and Mexico, Remitly transfers money in minutes for only $3.99, which is lower than that of Western Union and Xoom (comparisons shown on home page). Its remittance service lets you withdraw in over 10,000 establishments throughout the Philippines, including BDO, BPI, and PNB, as well as Cebuana Lhuillier, M. Lhuillier, and even SM. Remitly also has a referral program, wherein you can earn PHP 500 for every successful referral to someone in the USA.
If you are sending money from USA, then this service is a viable option. A subsidiary of Euronet Worldwide, Ria Money Transfer specializes in remittances, having been around since 1987. It sends money to various locations around the world, which can be looked up in the official website. It also seems to have some of the lowest fees among all these services, so it could be a viable option for the financially strapped.
This one has a lot of similarities to Remitly, especially with the remittances to India, Mexico, and the Philippines. While relatively young compared to the other services on this list, having been founded in 1991, Lucky Money has done well enough for itself and has locations in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, Canada, and the USA.
It’s quite obvious for the Philippines’ version of FedEx to have a remittance service, and it seems they do have a fast one at that. LBC claims that their Send Money service takes less than 2 minutes to transfer money from wherever in the world, and cheaper than banks and most other services at that. If you want to visit a branch, LBC branches are pretty much everywhere in the country.
Aside from being one of the banks that all of these remittance services send money to, Philippine National Bank does indeed have an online remittance service as well. This is especially good if the receiver has a PNB savings account, and it can all be done online. If money has to be sent from the USA to the Philippines, this could be a very safe option for you, especially if you’re a bit paranoid about all other online methods.
Finding the right service and determining the fastest way to send money to Philippines takes a good bit of research and understanding the process, especially since this involves money. The remittance services listed here are some of the best, but there could be more out there that offer some really fast services, so it’s still worth looking at closely. But if you’re pressed for time and need money sent right away, it’s hard to go wrong with these.
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