Since the global spread of Covid-19 in early 2020, offline businesses in most industries have been affected by social distancing restrictions, and remittances are no exception. Gilbert F. Houngbo, The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), commented "Regardless of whether the recovery after COVID is faster than expected, this pandemic has exposed the fragility of the global remittance system." According to the World Bank, remittances reached a record $554 billion before the lockdowns, but due to the pandemic, the World Bank predicts that cross-border remittances will fall by 20% this year.

In Singapore, huge remittances are made to China every year. In the past, remitters had to go in person to a bank or remittance agency. Long lines of people could be found in Chinatown waiting at remittance counters. In person remittance procedures are complicated and the waiting time is long. Each remittance takes several hours to complete, and it requires several hours to one day to transfer money to the beneficiary's account.

To facilitate compliant overseas remittances to China, DCBOX cooperated with UnionPay to launch an online cross-border remittance service on September 1st. It only takes a few steps online to complete a remittance from Singapore to China. The remittance process is completed by UnionPay, is safe and compliant, and usually arrives in 60 seconds.

Part of a new generation of financial open payment platforms developed in Southeast Asia, DCBOX Wallet has established a broad user base in the region. Compared with cross-border wire transfers at banks or remittance institutions, cross-border remittances conducted by DCBOX and UnionPay have major advantages in terms of efficiency, convenience, and affordability. Remittances can be transferred in 60 seconds without traveling to physical remittance counters, the entire process can be completed online, and the exchange rate and remittance fees are more are lower than offline institutions.

As Houngbo points out, "Now is the time to solve the problem of cross-border remittances, regardless of the economic situation." Online cross-border remittance solutions developed by emerging open financial platforms like DCBOX will surely promote the recovery and development of global remittances after the epidemic.

source：https://apnews.com/de0b30b0943fd06b33e9aad88a3b6a35