Western Union backs financial literacy program for OFW families

MANILA, Philippines - Western Union Co. and Western Union Agents Petnet and eBusiness Services has pledged $220,000 for a financial literacy campaign called the Philippine Financial Freedom Campaign or Peso-sense.

The goal of Peso-sense is to improve financial literacy by promoting productive expenditure, greater saving and entrepreneurship among Filipino beneficiaries of international or domestic remittances.

The campaign will be implemented by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) – the government agency under the Office of the President of the Philippines tasked to promote and uphold the interests of overseas Filipinos, and to preserve and strengthen ties with Filipino communities abroad.

It will be overseen by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Globally, Western Union serves as a vital financial link for many people who cross borders to work and live, connecting them to their families back home.

Last year, the company served approximately 70 million senders – nearly a third of the more than 215 million people who live outside of their home country.

Western Union Foundation president Patrick Gaston said consumers are ambitious and resourceful, and their most important aspiration is to secure their financial future, increase their standard of living and improve their level of education.

“However, for too many, their dreams are delayed or out of reach. What they lack is the encouragement, training and tools to accelerate their aspirations through innovation and new ways of thinking,” Gaston added.

Commission on Filipinos Overseas Secretary Imelda Nicolas said that collaborative initiatives between the government of the Philippines, corporate sector and inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations are crucial to helping them achieve their individual goals and we thank Western Union for initiating this multi-stakeholder campaign.

Majority of overseas Filipinos remit money to fund regular expenses such as food, debts and education; however 64 percent are not satisfied with how beneficiaries are spending their hard-earned money for lack of financial acumen, according to research conducted by Ipsos and sponsored by Western Union.

Nine out of 10 Filipino remitters agreed a financial literacy campaign would be beneficial, the research found.

The Philippines is identified globally as one of the Next Eleven (N-11) countries with the potential of becoming the world’s largest economies in the 21st century along with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.