Money transfer firms can’t cope

CEBU, Philippines - Money transfer firms in Cebu seem to be having difficulty coping up with the influx of remittances from abroad for Yolanda victims.

Reports of the inability of money transfer firms to cope with demand have started to surface here in Cebu  one week after super typhoon Yolanda shut down operations of  these firms in areas where it wreaked havoc.

Businesses in Cebu City, including the money transfer industry here, immediately reopened after the city did not sustain damage as threatening as other areas did.

According to the data gathered by an online volunteer group spearheaded by Miguel Antonio Garcia, the total population in areas in northern Cebu alone that have been affected by the typhoon is at 600,000.

These affected families could not claim remittances from their Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) relatives at the moment because power there has been cut off and will not be restored until one month, according to authorities.

With no significant harm reported, Cebu City has now become the most accessible payout center for domestic, as well as international remittances from OFWs whose families reside in places Yolanda struck.

But many money transfer firms here are reportedly unable to satisfy the robust demand at the moment.

In a quick survey made by this writer in Colon area yesterday, majority of the money transfer firms acting as domestic agents of international money-moving companies visited refused to process a remittance payout, citing offline status and no access to cash as top reasons.

Ricky Campos, an OFW from Saudi Arabia, reported a similar experience in an interview.

Campos said three days back, he sent money for his family in Medellin via a money transfer firm but his beneficiaries were surprised to find out that remittance payout centers they visited in Mandaue City could not process the request "because they did not have sufficient cash."

His recipients were finally able to claim the money sent to them at a money transfer firm in Lapu-Lapu City.

But even as some of the firms could process some payouts, some of these firms are currently enforcing a cap on the amount that could be claimed.

For instance, some of the money transfer firms we interviewed could only process a payout that does not exceed P5,000.

In a phone call, Rachel B. Barbosa-Salva from the consumer affairs office of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in Manila said they are currently verifying these reports.

Salva urged the public to utilize alternative claiming centers, such as banks, if pawnshops and other authorized agents of international money transfer firms could not cope up with the demand.

Salva added that the BSP is encouraging consumers who are turned down by money transfer agents to report the same to BSP's consumer assistance mechanism which involves the endorsement of the consumer's report to the concerned financial institution. — /QSB (FREEMAN)