PERA HUB leverages on Stellar network to make remittances affordable and accessible
PERA HUB, one of the country’s leading cash and payment related transaction centers, sealed its partnership with Stellar, an open-source blockchain network that connects the world’s financial services institutions to provide reliable and secured remittances at low transaction fees. Supported by The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a non-profit organization that supports the Stellar network, PERA HUB customers will soon be able to claim remittances sent from Singapore through Chynge, a Singapore-based fintech digital payments company, at any of PERA HUB’s 3000+ locations nationwide. The service will consequently be available in PERA HUB’s digital remittance platforms. Both PERA HUB and Chynge are part of Stellar’s network allowing both to leverage the technologies being provided by Stellar.
In the pursuit to advance business and communities, PERA HUB and Stellar aim to empower people to transact across borders and across different currencies at a low cost and at the fastest speed available through Stellar’s network. The Stellar network strives to create equitable access to the global financial system, to unlock the world’s economic potential through blockchain technology.
“Today, Stellar is helping reimagine the world of remittances so they are faster, more affordable, and empower people and businesses with services they need. We’re thrilled to work with PERA HUB to offer an alternative to the traditional system that reduces the friction and costs,” said Mark Heynen, Vice President of Business Development, Stellar Development Foundation.
“PERA HUB has been in the remittance industry for more than 20 years and it’s the strategic direction of the group to maximize their retail network and for PERA HUB to build the “digital remittance platform of the future”. It’s essential forging strategic partnerships with digital players who share the same drive and passion that we have towards financial inclusion. This partnership is a testament that we can utilize technology and traditional financial services to ensure that no one gets left behind as we foster innovation,” says Arvie de Vera, Senior Vice President and Head of UnionBank’s Fintech Business Group.
“Chynge has been working with Stellar for over two years as a key leg of our technology stack and Stellar delivers relevant technologies to realize the Chynge vision of instant, free and safe cross-border payments for the key overseas foreign worker (OFW) customer segment. Chynge is excited to be partnering with Pera Hub for the last-mile delivery of funds via bank, cash pickup, and mobile wallets. The ultimate winner is the OFW with increased choices, lower fees, and better service to improve the lives of their families and communities in the Philippines,” says Joe Tusin, CEO of Chynge.
PERA HUB, the retail brand of PETNET, was exclusive to Western Union for 20 years since it started its operations in 1998. Since it’s non-exclusivity, strategic partnerships with key remittance players were established in line with the company’s direction to carry all relevant remittance companies in PERA HUB’s network.
“We were initially offering remittance products to traditional branch customers. With the advancements in technology and the pandemic that pushed an aggressive adoption of the Filipinos to digital platforms, PERA HUB has been on the lookout to better provide financial services that go beyond the reach of our branches. We created a digital remittance platform that would allow us to integrate easily with remittance players allowing us to accelerate the speed to market our services and tap ecosystems that would benefit from it. This partnership with Stellar allows us to stay true to our group purpose of advancing business and communities and allows us to uplift the lives of our kababayans at these challenging times.” says Ian Ocampo, PETNET President and CEO.
PETNET is majority-owned by City Savings Bank, Inc. and Union Properties, Inc., both wholly-owned subsidiaries of Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), the financial services strategic business unit of publicly-listed company Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc.
