The Philippine National Bank (PNB) and Bank of China (BOC) recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to provide remittance services from Italy to China. The tie-up will be implemented through PNB’s wholly-owned subsidiary, PNB Italy, SpA (PISPA), and BOC’s Manila office.

The deal effectively expands PISPA’s market coverage. Aside from servicing the Italy-RP remittance corridor, it will now accept remittances bound for China. This is a significant market considering that there are about 745,000 Chinese overseas contract workers in Italy at present. PISPA will accept remittances via credit to a BOC account or other bank accounts of the remitter’s beneficiary. This will be done through PNB’s electronic International Remittance System which assures fast and cost-effective deployment of funds.

PNB is looking forward to more tie-ups in the future with strategic partners that will allow its overseas offices, primarily those in Europe, to service non-Filipino remittances as well.