For most Filipinos abroad it is an undeniable fact that a big part of our earnings overseas is being sent back to our loved ones back home in the Philippines. Even for those who have migrated to places outside of the Philippines, the obligation continues. Yeah it is, in fact, weird as it sounds, an obligation.
Filipinos have not evolved much in their mentality in terms of taking care of their kins of kin. To them it is a moral obligation to support their Filipino families back home, being the ones who have the means to do so and also as a way of showing ingratuity even if their families back home didn’t really contribute much to their success. It’s just the Filipino upbringing, and unpleasant as it is, it’s something that’s already been a part of the Filipino culture.
Anyway, since we really have to send some cash back home on a regular basis or every once in a while, why don’t we make it easy and affordable to ourselves?
Imagine sending $600 to your loved ones and spending $50 bucks for the transfer service? That’s a lot!
You can opt to pay less by doing bank to bank transfers but it takes a while before your recipients get hold of their cash.
In emergency cases, you have no choice but to pay the higher service fee even if it burns your pocket.
I used to do that. For the sake of speed, pay extra fees. That’s an old story.
Today, I use Ikobo to send cash to my loved ones in the Philippines. It is secure. It is fast. It is very affordable and probably the cheapest deal you can get.
How does it work? You sign up online for the service, provide your funding source, register your recipients and after verification, you’re set to use the service. You can use debit card, credit card, bank accounts to fund your Ikobo account.
If it is your first time to use the service, it will take a while before your recipient can have access to the money you sent because Ikobo sends a debit card to your recipient through a reliable courier service in the quickest possible time so your recipient will have to wait until he/she takes hold of the card. As soon as your recipient gets the debit card, he/she can now transact using most ATMs that are available 24/7. Thus, whatever time of day it is, you never have to worry because your recipient doesn’t have to wait for office hours to be able to have access to the funds that you just sent.
After the first transaction, the next transactions that follow are completed in real time since the recipient can now transact right away with the card that he/she is holding, allowing him/her to withdraw cash from any ATM anytime. You send online and as soon as you finish your online transaction the money that you just sent is now readily available to the recipient.
The best part is, the service doesn’t cost as much as the other competitors. For a quick calculation the fee is 3% of the transaction amount plus $5. So if you send $600, that would be $18 + $5. That’s only $23. If you send $1000, you pay only $35, that’s even a few bucks less than paying for a $600 transaction using other services. And if you use a bank account to fund your transaction it’s only $5.
One thing to remember though is there is a $1000 maximum limit per transaction and a maximum limit is set as well for a particular period, say the maximum amount you can send within 15, 30 days or so.
Ikobo is merely complying with government rules on money transfers since these days the same service could be used to fund terrorist activities.
Anyway, this is really a good service especially if you send money on a regular basis like when you have students back home, or if you have an ailing family member that you have to constantly provide for financially or if you have an ongoing project that requires you to send financing on a regular basis until the project is completed.
I’ve been using this service since June 2007 and so far, I haven’t been disappointed with the service.
Another good thing with Ikobo is that they incorporate holidays that we normally celebrate, to give promotional discounts for the transfer fee. In fact for the end of December they offered a discount in consonance to the celebration of Rizal Day.
Would you rather pay more or take this wonderful service?
2 comments:
Just happen to stumble on your Blog today and so far enjoying your writings ;)
I just thought you'll be interested in another option to send money FREE! Wells Fargo Bank has Express Send with BPI in the Philippines. They can pick it up as cash if they don't have acct with BPI or it goes to their acct. (With their BPI ATM it is real time)
You have to have a transfer of $75 from checking to savings to qualify for free remittance. Or if you work for employers under Wells Fargo participating companies. If you don't want or have this option the reg fee is flat $5. You can call the 1-800-to-wells to send money 24/7 after the
account has been set up.
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beartils
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