Union Bank, Visa launch new credit card

MANILA, Philippines -  Visa International and Union Bank of the Philippines have jointly launched a credit card that can receive funds from overseas.

The remittance service uses Visa’s personal payment technology. UAE Exchange, a leading provider of remittance services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will be the first remitter to offer the service to the Philippines, with other key markets for Filipinos working overseas to be added in the coming months.

“It is fitting that our first rollout of this service in Asia is in the Philippines, and is further proof of Visa’s ability to deliver world-class products and services to its customers here, in partnership with innovative banks like Union Bank,” Iain Jamieson, Visa country manager for Philippines and Guam, said in a press presentation yesterday.

The new service allows Philippine-issued Visa cards to receive funds in near real-time, giving recipients their money in minutes, quickly and securely. It is more convenient than other alternatives as recipients no longer have to visit an agent location to collect cash.

Jamieson explained that funds are deposited directly onto client’s Visa cards, which can then be used to make purchases at millions of local and global merchant outlets which accept Visa cards, as well as withdraw cash from more than 1.8 million ATMs in the Philippines and around the world.

Union Bank president and chief operating officer Victor B. Valdepeñas said that the remittance feature for the debit or credit card business is one that will remain in the country’s banking system.

 “It will be around for a long time, as the Philippine economy will continue to rely on the contributions of overseas Filipinos,” Valdepenas said.

However, he said there will be a weakening of the volume of remittances this year. “It has reached a plateau and it is settling down,” he added.

Money sent to families in the Philippines is likewise seen to weaken as the combined negative impact of the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa takes its toll.

In March, remittances slowed down to 4.1 percent compared to the 6.2 percent recorded in February. This brought the year-on-year growth rate in the first quarter of 2011 to six percent, slower than the 9.3 percent in the last quarter of 2010.