According to UCPB Executive Vice President for institutional and retail banking Higinio Macadaeg, the OFW lending facility will be unveiled this coming April, which will offer a wider range of market products and services to meet the various and specific financial requirements of OFWs.

Initially, however, the Remittance Marketing Division will roll out its program initially targeting OFWs in the Middle East, said Macadaeg, adding that other economies in the region, which has large concentrations of OFWs as well as Europe will be next in line.

Macadaeg explained the thrust is to provide the necessary financial support to OFWs from the moment they get their foreign contracts to the time they get settled in their jobs abroad and begin sending money back to their relatives here, all the way up to the point where they are well off enough to begin building their savings and investments in preparation for retiring from overseas work for good..

"We call this strategy OFW banking . . . to capture the OFWs banking requirements at every stage of the overseas employment cycle," he pointed out.

The unit will focus solely on developing programs to meet all the banking needs of the OFWs, from pre-departure loans, to remittance services to housing loans, auto loans, educational loans, small business loans, investment and retirement planning. (FCS)