Insider Spotlight
Why it matters
Overseas Filipinos in Europe face fragmented onboarding, costly remittances, and inconsistent access to financial services.
The collaboration integrates RCBC’s digital banking offerings directly into EU-based digital platforms, giving workers a streamlined way to save, send money, manage credit, and make payments wherever they are.
Driving financial inclusion
Lito Villanueva, RCBC executive vice president and chief innovations and inclusion officer, said in a press release on Dec. 1, 2025 that the partnership underscores the Philippines’ rapidly advancing digital finance landscape and its role in widening access for global Filipinos.
“The developments in the Philippines’ digital ecosystem and API banking have created opportunities anchored upon social purposes such as this partnership to promote sustainable finance,” Villanueva said.
“Open Finance is bridging overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) through the fusion of digital financial services across the world, further boosting the economy and realizing the dreams of their family,” he added.
The big picture
Relaxie’s role as the European operator for Tarakabayan and Power MIMS enables a recruitment-to-deployment infrastructure covering digital onboarding, instant remittances, payments, and settlement—all aligned with EU and Philippine regulations.
Relaxie president Adrian Farkas said the initiative aims to digitalize processes for Filipino workers deployed in Central Europe, noting the growing need for a reliable, cost-saving ecosystem as the region’s demand increases.
“We dreamed of a trusted ‘rEUcruitment’ ecosystem … Our end-to-end Superapp Relaxie makes the whole industry life easier and faster,” Farkas said.
What they’re saying
Lawyer Rahimas S. Ayunan, president of Power MIMS Corp., called the partnership a “turning point” for OFWs and for institutions embracing technology-driven migration.
“Our OFWs deserve an ecosystem—not scattered services, not temporary fixes—but a true digital backbone that protects them … and supports them all the way to reintegration and financial growth,” he said.
Zoom out
Villanueva said the partnership complements RCBC’s existing collaboration with the Department of Migrant Workers and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, reinforcing the bank’s message that “sustainable finance knows no borders.”
RCBC continues to roll out literacy-driven programs and its Pulz digital banking platform to bring underserved Filipinos into the formal financial system. —Vanessa Hidalgo | Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
