Metro Remittance Singapore- All you need to know

Metro Remittance Singapore, which is also known as MetroRemit, is a subsidiary of Metrobank Philippines. MetroRemit offers international payment services from Singapore to the Philippines via its mobile application, website and its local office on Orchard Road.

If you need to send money home to loved ones in the Philippines, you don’t want to pay any more than you have to in charges. This guide takes a look at the fees and exchange rates used by Metro Remittance, and provides an alternative for comparison- cheap and secure international payments from Wise.

The smart, free Borderless account from Wise can help you send and receive international payments for less, to the Philippines and elsewhere

Send money abroad with Metro Remittance Singapore

To send money to the Philippines with MetroRemit, you’ll need to first create an account before registering your recipient and arranging the payment.

We’ll walk through the steps you need to take in a moment. There’s also more information on accounts, as well as an informational video available on the Metro Remittance website.¹

How to open a MetroRemit account?

To open a Metro Remittance account, you’ll need to first complete a registration form online using the MetroRemit website or app. You’ll have to provide the following information²

• Personal details, including name, address, date and place of birth, gender, nationality and occupation
• Contact information including phone number and email address
• Source of funds being transferred
• NRIC or passport information for ID verification
• Full recipient details, including name, address, relationship and reason for sending funds
• Recipient bank details including receiving bank, branch and account number, if you’re sending a direct bank transfer

You then need to visit the Metro Remittance office on Orchard Road with your NRIC or passport, and proof of address. Proof of address might be a utility bill, bank or credit card statement for example.

After presenting your documents, you’ll be sent an email to your registered address which you can use to log into the MetroRemit website or app, and start to use the service.

MetroRemit charges and fees

When you are fully registered on the MetroRemit app you can login to arrange a payment, or visit the Orchard Road branch if you prefer a face to face service. You’ll be shown the exchange rate and fees for the transaction you want to complete before you confirm payment.

The costs of arranging a payment will vary depending on whether you want your recipient to collect their payment in cash, or have the payment sent to their bank account. Sending a payment to be collected in cash will cost around SGD4.50, with bank transfer charges costing up to SGD4 depending on which bank is used.¹

You may also find there’s an extra fee, in the form of a markup added into the exchange rate. We’ll cover this charge, and how you can avoid it, a little more later.

MetroRemit transfer limit

You can send up to SGD12,000 a day with the Metro Remittance app. If you want to send more than this, you must visit the Orchard Road office where you’ll need to provide proof of the source of funds, and complete some extra paperwork to set up your transfer.²

How much time does it take to send money with MetroRemit?

When your recipient receives their money will depend on the payment route you choose. If you’re sending cash for collection, or into a Metrobank account it will be available as soon as the funds have been received by MetroRemit. If your recipient has an account with a different bank, the payment will arrive the following business day.²

How can I check the status of money transfer with MetroRemit?

Once your payment has been set up you’ll be able to see the transaction status using the Metro Remittance app.²

MetroRemit customer support in case transactions are stuck

Here’s how to get in touch with Metro Remittance if you need help¹

• Visit the office at 03- 30 Lucky Plaza, Orchard Road, Singapore 238863
• Call the team on 6734 2748 or 6734 4648
• Email on MBSingapore@metrobank.com.ph

The true cost of international transfers with Metro Remittance Singapore

To be able to compare the cost of different international payment providers you need to know both the upfront fees being charged, and the exchange rate used. This is important because currency services may add a hidden fee in the form of a markup on the exchange rate. This can make your transfer more expensive than you expect, and the costs can really ramp up if you’re making large or frequent payments to loved ones overseas.

Let’s look at an example:

Provider	Amount	Exchange rate to PHP	Fee	Recipient receives
MetroRemit	SDG1,000	SGD1=PHP37.3500	SGD4	PHP37,200.60
Wise	SDG1,000	SGD1=PHP37.6761	SGD7.85	PHP37,380.34

*Exchange rates and fees correct at the time of research, 15 October 2019

As you can see in this example, MetroRemit might charge a relatively low upfront fee, but the impact of the exchange rate markup added means your recipient may end up with less than you expect in the end.

Exchange rates change all the time, so the easiest way to keep track is to use an online currency converter to get the live exchange rate for your currency pairing. You can then compare the exchange rate offered by Metro Remittance with the rate available from other providers like Wise. You might find you can save.

A cheap, fast and transparent alternative:Wise

If you’re looking for an international payment provider with simple transparent fees and no exchange rate
markup, check out Wise. All payments are made using the same exchange rate you’ll find on Google, with no hidden costs to worry about. Transfers are fast and secure, and can be 7x cheaper than using your regular bank, or another provider like PayPal.

You could make it even easier to send and receive payments all over the world with a borderless account from Wise. You can set up this multi-currency account online with no need to visit a branch - there’s no set up cost, no monthly fee and no minimum balance. Hold over 40 currencies, receive fee payments in major currencies like euros, pounds, and US, Australian and New Zealand dollars, and get a linked debit card for simple spending.

Whenever you want to send money home to the Philippines, simply set up the payment using your borderless account. You can convert your balance to PHP using the mid-market exchange rate - the one you’ll find on Google - and get it sent to a loved one’s bank account quickly and cheaply. There’s only a small upfront fee to pay for the service, so you save both time and money.

Don’t get caught out by high or hidden fees when you’re making international payments to friends and family back home. Take some time to do some research, including looking at modern alternative services like Wise, to get the best deal for you.

Sources used for this article

1. https://www.metroremitsg.com/
2. https://www.metroremitsg.com/remitter/remitter_tnc