First Blockchain-Based Remittance in Philippines Completed

Major Philippines lender Union Bank has completed the first-ever blockchain-based remittance in the nation from OCBC in Singapore.

The bank reportedly used an Ethereum-powered liquidity management system alongside its own proprietary i2i platform to complete the transaction from OCBC as a pilot. The funds were remitted to an account holder at Cantilan Bank in Surigao del Sur, a southeastern province.

Chief fintech officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Sopnendu Mohantynoted that the city-state’s regulator had been exploring blockchain-based payments since 2016.

We are excited to see this potential being realized, with cross-border payments that are cheaper, faster, and safer through the i2i network, he said.

Rural banks have limited access to financial networks and a lag for remittances to be credited—five to seven days. Non-bank remittance counters offer faster execution but at a higher and sometimes unbearable cost for the relevant market segment.

On the other hand, the crypto-based platform which the aforementioned banks used, Adhara, allows users to settle real-time payments at low cost and high efficiency by tokenizing assets and smart contracts on an Ethereum-based ledger.