Coins.ph, a Philippine-based digital wallet provider and crypto exchange platform, announced today that it has partnered with OK Remit, a money transfer company in Japan, to provide “On-Demand Liquidity” (ODL) service to the more than 300,000 Filipinos living in this island country in East Asia.
ODL is a type of financial service that helps customers to move money around the world without the need for correspondent banking relationships and the usual pre-funding of accounts abroad.
Coins.ph’s ODL service will be powered by Ripplenet, the global payments network of Ripple, the leader in enterprise blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions.
With the new service, Coins.ph is now able to provide an instant and more cost-effective way for the large community of Filipinos in Japan to easily send money back home and make cross-border payments. It is also the Filipino company’s way of fulfilling its mission of empowering overseas workers through financial inclusion.
ODL leverages XRP, a known digital currency, as a bridge between the fiat currencies of Japan and the Philippines, thereby lowering operating expenses and freeing up more capital.
Coins.ph to offer a faster and more secure global currency transfer system
“Today’s announcement is a game-changer,” said Wei Zhou, CEO of Coins.ph. “Overseas Filipino Workers are too often forced to rely on outdated, slow-moving, and expensive remittance services to transfer their hard-earned money back home.”
“Coins.ph is committed to harnessing the power of blockchain-based cryptocurrency technologies to empower Filipinos to move money across borders in a fast, frictionless, secure, compliant, and affordable way, making the global currency transfer system more inclusive in the process. The ODL service that we launched today with OK Remit is an exciting example of how we can achieve that,” Zhou added.
For his part, Shujen Higashida, President of OK Remit, said, “We are pleased to be working with Coins.ph and Ripple to be able to bring crypto-asset technology to our international money transfer service. As travel restrictions have relaxed since the beginning of 2022, we want people who come to Japan to have a fast and affordable way to send money back home. OK Remit is committed to further expanding our relationship with RippleNet and hopes to be able to offer similar services in other countries.”
The partnership was established through SBI Ripple Asia, a joint venture between SBI Holdings and Ripple.
Jayson Mandal, International Department Manager of Asian Net Co., Ltd., said, “Our partnership with Coins.ph to launch RippleNet’s ODL service in Japan is a significant accomplishment, and is a key factor in reaching and penetrating the Filipino market – one of our biggest markets.”
According to statista.com, remittances from Japan to the Philippines have totaled approximately US$1.6 billion as of October 2021.
“We constantly look at incorporating innovative technologies to address the needs of foreign residents in Japan and to meet a high level of customer satisfaction,” added Mandal.
With the partnership, OK Remit will now be able to connect with Coins.ph and the digital asset trading platform SBI VC Trade via RippleNet for Japan-to-Philippines remittances.
Expanding financial inclusion through crypto
The launch of the ODL service is the latest example of Coins.ph’s mission of expanding financial inclusion for underserved populations.
The goal of Coins.ph is to provide anyone, even those without a bank account, with simple access to financial services via their mobile device. Customers of Coins.ph have access to an integrated crypto and fiat mobile wallet through which they can perform everyday payments such as paying bills online in addition to transacting in over 20 digital assets and cryptocurrencies.
The ODL offering illustrates how solutions that combine crypto and fiat elements can make previously complex and expensive financial transactions more accessible and inclusive, and leverages Coins.ph’s market-leading capabilities in last-mile crypto-to-fiat conversion.
Launched in 2014, Coins.ph is now one of the most established crypto brands in the Philippines and has more than 16 million users. Through the easy-to-use mobile app, users can buy and sell a variety of cryptocurrencies and access a wide range of financial services.
Coins.ph is fully regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and is considered as the first crypto-based company in Asia to hold both Virtual Currency and Electronic Money Issuer licenses from the central bank.