FINANCE Secretary Frederick Go wants overseas Filipino workers’ (OFWs) remittance fees to be reduced.
One way to do this, he said, is through digital technology.
Go said cutting the fee on remittances can help many Filipino families because this normally cuts six to 10 percent of the money sent by OFWs. He said that this fee must be dropped, similar to how some local banks have lowered money transfer fees.
“For the overseas Filipinos, they’re paying up to 10 percent. These are blood, sweat, and tears of our fellow kababayans abroad. And they have to pay those kinds of usurious fees. I think that’s really something we really, really should work on,” Go told ABS-CBN News.
He said he has met with the Fintech Alliance and has also talked to tech experts on ways to possibly bring down the costs of remittance fees. They all agree that digital payments solutions can help lower costs and make money transfer more seamless.
One proposal from tech experts, Go said, is to use cryptocurrency.
“They’re proposing to use a virtual dollar or a crypto like the USDT for example as a medium to be able to send money from overseas currencies to Filipino peso,” Go said.
He added that he is waiting for the response of companies and financial institutions on his appeal to bring down the remittance fee.
Earlier, Go praised BPI for making money transfers to other banks and e-wallets, free of charge permanently.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data showed cash remittances reached a record USD35.63 billion in 2025, up 3.3 percent from USD34.49 billion in 2024.
The BSP also reported that personal remittances rose to USD3.04 billion in April 2026, while remittance inflows from January to April continued to grow amid prevailing global economic conditions. (ABS-CBN News / PNA)
