![“The Pharmally case... there are 46 respondents [in our complaint], kaya medyo matagal. And many of them have become invisible. Para bang they're trying to evade the jurisdiction of this body,” says Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla.](https://www.panaynews.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/plunder_copy_resized_resized-218x150.jpg "Ombudsman presses P11-B Pharmally plunder case But 23 respondents missing— Remulla")
THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DOF) is targeting a reduction in the cost of sending money home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to around 2 percent of the funds sent, with Finance Secretary Frederick Go turning to global payments firms to help make money transfers to the Philippines more affordable.
“The average (fee) now, according to the World Bank, is 6.3 percent. I would be happy if we can bring this down to 2 percent,” Go told the Inquirer.
Go met with officials from payments firms Swift and Revolut on the sidelines of the 2026 International Monetary Fund-World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, to discuss ways to “improve the speed, affordability, and transparency of cross-border payments to the Philippines.”
“Our OFWs work hard for every peso they send home. We want to help them by lowering transfer fees and ensuring fair, transparent exchange rates, so more of their earnings reach their families,” Go said in a statement.
Efficiency gains
Swift or the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication is a global financial messaging network that connects banks and other financial institutions, while Revolut is a London-based digital financial services company that offers international money transfers, among other services.
The discussions covered possible coordination with banks and payment providers in major remittance markets, as well as ways to link existing payment systems so transfers can reach Philippine bank accounts and digital wallets more efficiently.
Go earlier pushed for lower digital transaction costs, including fees on regular domestic payments, while also raising concerns about the high cost of OFW remittances.
At the time, he said Filipinos abroad had complained to him about remittance charges ranging from 8 to 10 percent.
As it is, several banks and digital wallets in the Philippines reduced or waived fees on certain domestic digital transactions, with Land Bank of the Philippines, which Go chairs, leading the move through a pilot program in June that was made permanent in July.
DOF’s latest push came as OFW remittances fell to a three-month low of $3.03 billion in August, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Cumulative remittances in the first eight months of the year, meanwhile, reached $23.42 billion.
The BSP expects cash remittances from overseas Filipinos to reach $36.6 billion this year. (Nyah Genelle C. De Leon ©Philippine Daily Inquirer)
