Stablecoin issuer and fintech company Circle have announced a strategic partnership with the digital asset provider Coins.ph, based in the Philippines. The aim of this collaboration is to improve the existing money transfer landscape in the region.
The partnership intends to promote the use of USDC as a secure, cost-effective, and nearly instant international money transfer method among Coins.ph’s 18 million users in the Philippines. According to a report by the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) in 2022, an astounding $36.1 billion USD in remittances flow into the Philippines, underlining the significance of remittances to the country’s economy.
However, traditional money transfer methods often come with high fees and lengthy processing times. According to the World Bank, the average cost of sending a $200 USD remittance to the Asia region in 2022 was 5.7%. This situation is even more challenging for the population without bank accounts in the Philippines, accounting for 44% of the adult population in 2021.
In an effort to address these issues, the partnership between Coins.ph and Circle seeks to promote real-time payments and minimize transaction costs in the Philippines, the fourth-largest recipient of remittances globally. This initiative will start with educational campaigns and community engagement efforts to assist Filipinos abroad in using USDC for money transfers.
Commenting on this development, Raagulan Pathy, Vice President for the Asia-Pacific region at Circle, stated:
“By enabling real-time cross-border transactions and significantly reducing transaction costs, we are supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to reduce the transaction costs of remittances to under 3% by 2023. Together, we are taking important steps towards enhancing economic opportunities and prosperity in the Philippines.”