Category: Top Stories

Cebuana Lhuillier, the Philippines’ largest micro-financial services provider, has partnered with LBC Express Inc., the market leader in retail and corporate courier and cargo, money remittance, and logistics services, to further expand the reach of its local remittance business.

The partnership will provide Cebuana Lhuillier clients with access to a wider range of domestic remittance facilities, leading to more convenient and more accessible money transfers to their loved ones—leveraging on Cebuana Lhuillier’s 2,500 branches nationwide and LBC Express’ 1,400 cargo and logistics facilities, including its domestic partners and agents.

“For more than 30 years, we have been committed to ensuring that every Filipino will have access to the financial services they need. This partnership with LBC Express is a testament to our company’s decades-long commitment to provide relevant services by continuously expanding our reach, developing more innovative platforms, and exploring more untapped channels to enable the unbanked and underbanked Filipinos better access to financial services,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, Cebuana Lhuillier president and CEO.

Cebuana Lhuillier senior executive vice president Philippe Andre Lhuillier adds, “Both Cebuana Lhuillier and LBC are known in the industry for providing linkages to every Filipino and their loved-ones. Through this partnership, KaCebuanas, regardless of their location in the Philippines, will have access to additional domestic remittance outlets available nationwide through LBC’s network.”

The partnership of two of the country’s most recognized brands is a practical step to owning the last mile in the local money transfer business. 

“By combining LBC and Cebuana Lhuillier’s extensive network, we’ll be in a much better position to reach more Filipinos. This joint venture will allow us to expand our services, offer more convenient and innovative solutions and ultimately, move more lives. This meaningful tie-up is in line with our mission to bring our services closer to everyone,” said Miguel Angel Camahort, LBC Express Holdings Inc. president and CEO.

As a company that offers an extensive line of financial solutions to Filipinos, Cebuana Lhuillier is dedicated to establishing its presence in new and strategic areas nationwide. Part of this is the development of retail and corporate partners to expand its remittance network. LBC serves as the perfect partner that will help Cebuana Lhuillier fulfill this goal, thanks to its strategic locations spread across the Philippines. 

LBC Express is the country’s pioneer express delivery and cargo shipping and 24-hour door-to-door delivery. Today, it is one of the most trusted courier, cargo and logistics, and remittance service providers with a combined network of 6,400 locations, partners, and agents in over 30 countries.

Written by Mike Mislos

August 8, 2019 – Cebuana Lhuillier taking a stake in blockchain and fintech startup SCI last June is a sign of change for both companies when it comes to how they plan to forge their future ahead together. The partnership will signal SCI playing a role in their digital transformation while also potentially helping the trusted remittance outlet to explore blockchain and cryptocurrency. One low hanging fruit is enabling the use of blockchain-powered transactions or financial services via Cebuana outlets across the Philippines.

Last Mile Powerhouse Cebuana Lhuillier

In remittance transactions, the last mile refers to that outlet where a customer can finally withdraw the cash sent to them by someone, probably from abroad or the metro. In the local setting, we sometimes refer to pawnshops and money changers as the last mile outlets. The largest of them all is Cebuana Lhuillier.

With over 2,500 branches in the Philippines, Cebuana Lhuillier is in front of more than 70% of the country’s unbanked population. Recognizing digital transformation as its next big priority, Cebuana’s parent company P.J Lhuillier is aware of the trend where fintech companies partner with brick and mortar remittance outlets to create a digital presence or update their old processes with the times.

SCI Stake Acquisition

Because of that, P.J Lhuillier acquired a stake in SCI Ventures (Satoshi Citadel Industries) in order to kickstart this digital transformation. SCI will be a key piece in a multi-pronged approach to introduce cutting-edge financial technology to Cebuana Lhuillier’s 4,000 domestic partners and one million combined physical and virtual touchpoints worldwide.

SCI Ventures and Blockchain

SCI, a pioneer Bitcoin and blockchain company in the Philippines is at the forefront of the rising demand for cryptocurrency and other digital assets. As one of the few companies in the Philippines with a virtual currency license, it is legally allowed by the government to facilitate crypto to fiat transactions and vice versa. Data from the country’s Central Bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has revealed that virtual currency transactions have doubled in 2018. If we looked further, data from 2017 also revealed increased crypto transactions in the Philippines vs the previous years. This data came from reports submitted by virtual currency-licensed companies like SCI Ventures.

Low Hanging Fruit

SCI Co-founder Miguel Cuneta welcomed the partnership with the giant financial service provider as a step forward for both companies. “We hopefully will be able to play a role in Cebuana’s move into the digital fintech world, and maybe even explore potential use cases for blockchain technology and cryptocurrency in the future,” he said in our exclusive interview.

One low hanging fruit, he said, is enabling the use of blockchain-powered transactions or financial services via Cebuana outlets. This is significant because, currently, Cebuana Lhuillier has 11 million active users in their loyalty card program and serves over 25 million Filipinos around the world.

“They basically have the audience already onboarded. Cebuana is one of the most trusted brands in the country, and since trust is a major consideration as to why Filipinos would use a financial service, they already have that advantage going for them.”- Miguel Cuneta, Co-founder, SCI Ventures

Cebuana Lhuillier President and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier said:

“This is another milestone in our continuing pursuit to expand our horizon and make a significant impact as we enter the digital arena. With our robust 2,500 branch network and strong partnerships with key financial players such as SCI in place, we are ready to take advantage of our unique ‘bricktech’ set-up and make our mark”

One Step Towards Blockchain and Crypto Awareness

With the country being one of the biggest recipients of remittances from around the world, Cebuana Lhuillier can benefit from using blockchain as a way to move money. Apart from transfer speed, what’s important here is the cost efficiency because with blockchain, there is no need to trust more middlemen companies and will allow more partners that can make use of Cebuana as a cashout partner.

SCI Ventures is not just doing business remitting money through blockchain. For many years, it has been a thought leader in the blockchain and crypto space in the Philippines, spreading the tech’s advantages and usecases through meetups, seminars, and even conferences, government, universities, and private offices where they are often invited to talk more about this disruptive technology. The partnership will potentially allow SCI to have a more hands-on approach in Cebuana’s transformation and will make them more aware for the possible use cases of blockchain and cryptocurrency. As mentioned, Cebuana Lhuillier is the biggest non-bank financial institution in the Philippines. Turning them into blockchain can make haste of one of SCI’s vision – to use fintech and blockchain technology to provide accessible financial services for everyone.

Cebuana Lhuillier, the country’s largest microfinancial services provider, has launched a mobile remittance application, Quikz, in the United States, through its partnership with Pangea Money Transfer.

“Partnering with Pangea allows us to help improve the lives of our customers and better connect them to their family members overseas,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, president and CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier. “Pangea’s secure, quick, and easy money transfer technology supports better financial security and more opportunities for Filipinos who want a convenient way to send and receive funds.”Through the money remittance application, Cebuana Lhuillier customers will soon own more of the transfer process and directly connect to senders in the US. 

“We are excited to work with Cebuana Lhuillier on this groundbreaking service for Filipino customers in the United States. This partnership expands our mobile remittance technology to even more senders, contributing to our goal of bringing effortless money transfer to those who need it most.” said NishuThukral, Pangea Money Transfer CEO, as the partnership is expected to bring Pangea’s international money-sending solution to a massive user base.

Available on the Apple App and Google Play stores for customers in the United States, Quikz is powered by Pangea Connect and is the company’s new Remittance-as-a-Service (RaaS) offering. Cebuana Lhuillier’s mission of enabling more Filipinos to have access to financial solutions ties perfectly with Pangea’s goal of financially empowering underserved communities. Pangea’s technology, meanwhile, works well with Cebuana Lhuillier’s brand salience and its extensive network of 2,500 branches nationwide to create a seamless money remittance service. As Cebuana Lhuillier Quikz continues to gain momentum, Pangea and Cebuana Lhuillier will make adjustments to further tailor fit the mobile app to the needs and preferences of users worldwide. Pangea plans to kick off more brand partnerships, expanding its RaaS offering to companies in other territories around the globe.