OFW Bank will have ‘service center’ in Dubai

The much-awaited OFW Bank will have an outpost in Dubai, which could easily connect overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the UAE to the bank, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) announced.

Alex Buenaventura, president of the LBP, said the “OFW Bank” which is expected to rise in Saudi Arabia later this year, will have centers in several places, including Dubai.

“We will be setting up ‘OFW Centers’—we’re preparing for the piloting of the OFW center in Dubai,” the Inquirer quoted Buenaventura as saying. “The OFW center will serve as the representative office of the future OFW Bank or Bank for OFWs, with the first to be piloted simultaneously with the completion of our acquisition [of Postbank] by the end of September.”

Buenaventura noted that the OFW centers will not serve as branches, but “service centers that will serve the banking requirement for OFWs”.

Landbank’s acquisition of the Philippine Postal Savings Bank, which will be turned into the OFW, has inched closer to implementation.

Buenaventura said Landbank is set to present the purchase agreement to the Governance Commission for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations (GCG).

Landbank also seeks GCG endorsement for President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval.

Once established, OFW Bank will offer up to P1 billion worth of shares of the bank to be offered to OFWs.

OFW Bank will facilitate remittance of OFWs and will offer financial education and investment counselling services to Filipino migrant workers.