Pouch, a lightning service provider in the Philippines, has partnered with Strike, a digital payments platform built on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, to facilitate fast, secure, and low-cost remittance payments from the U.S. to the Philippines.
Many Filipino families rely on remittances sent by their families. But transfer fees can be quite substantial. Citing data from the World Bank, Pouch and Strike said the average transaction cost of sending remittances to the Philippines is 4.57%.
“Remittances are a broken system and Strike delivers an incredibly empowering experience for people to send money around the world in nearly an instant,” said Jack Mallers, founder and CEO of Strike.Â
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Pouch was founded in August 2021 by CEO Ethan Rose, who left his software engineering job in the United States.
According to the World Bank, the Philippines is one of the top f5 global remittance markets in the world. Remittance inflows from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) posted a 5.7% year-on-year growth to $2.64 billion in November 2022.
“With Pouch’s partnership with Strike, we are revolutionizing the way cross-border payments are made, empowering people to easily send money to their loved ones back home,” Rose said.
“We’re excited to partner with Pouch to advance financial inclusion and bring fast, low-cost cross-border payments via the Lightning Network to the Philippines,” Mallers. “Our technology allows us to both improve on the existing cross-border experience and include those that have previously been excluded by legacy payment rails.”