I just saw the latest remittances figures in 2014 for overseas Filipinos. US $24.3 billion. That is a 5.8% increase over 2013. Sounds great, right?
It would be, if the money was spent on the essentials and used to help recipient families gain financial stabilty.
Now, check this out – a friend sent this to me last week …
This makes me mad.
I don’t know the whole story and there are usually two sides to every story. But this is a tale with a common refrain: overseas Filipino sends money back home and the money then disappears.
Sometimes the money is used for self-profit; sometimes gambling; sometimes drugs and alcohol. In these cases, the end result is that the provider’s hard work is wasted and the whole family ends up no better than before. Millions of Filipinos go overseas to work not expecting this to happen, but it happens all the time.
Cash is the most flexible form of payment in the world.
And in the Philippines, cash is accepted everywhere. So cash is great when used properly. But is it really the best way to provide for one’s family needs? There is no control on what it is used for, no accountability, no transparency.
When we started BeamAndGo nine months ago, we wanted to attack this problem. We wanted the hard working Filipinos around the world to have control over their hard earned money AND still be good providers for their families in the Philippines.
At BeamAndGo, we believe there is a better way for people to support their loved ones in the Philippines other than just sending cash. Our goal is to enable providers to buy food, medicine, health care, insurance, education and other essentials for their family in a way that is affordable, convenient, transparent and sustainable.
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To see what we are doing at BeamAndGo, visit us at http://www.beamandgo.com. Also, I am always looking for ways to make BeamAndGo better, so if you have suggestions or comments, you can contact me directly at jonathan.chua@beamandgo.com.