[2014-06-22] Philippines get its first Bitcoin ATM

[aliceHortrex]

http://cointelegraph.com/news/111897/philippines-get-its-first-bitcoin-atm

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[bryant.coleman]

That is excellent news. Bitcoin ATMs are really picking up in the South-East Asian region. There are 7 of them currently in Singapore, and a few more in the neighboring Malaysia. Indonesia and South Asia (India, Sri Lanka.etc) should be the next targets. 

[Junko]

This is definitely great news for many reasons. One being that the Philippines is one of the world's top labor-exporting nations, and remittances - transfer of money by a foreign worker to an individual in his or her home country - make up a significant % of the Philippine economy.

[bryant.coleman]

This is definitely great news for many reasons. One being that the Philippines is one of the world's top labor-exporting nations, and remittances - transfer of money by a foreign worker to an individual in his or her home country - make up a significant % of the Philippine economy.

But in that case what is the role of a Bitcoin ATM? Remittances will be sent as Bitcoins and they need to be converted to fiat. But this ATM probably  (?) only allows fiat to BTC conversion.

[Junko]

This is definitely great news for many reasons. One being that the Philippines is one of the world's top labor-exporting nations, and remittances - transfer of money by a foreign worker to an individual in his or her home country - make up a significant % of the Philippine economy.

But in that case what is the role of a Bitcoin ATM? Remittances will be sent as Bitcoins and they need to be converted to fiat. But this ATM probably  (?) only allows fiat to BTC conversion.

Maybe so, but if nothing else, it helps bring more awareness of bitcoin to the population whose family members remit from overseas and awareness of another, more cheaper option than Western Union.

[nwfella]

Excellent read.  Hopefully they start getting several more in before the end of the year.  Would love to see competition in this area increase.

[freedomno1]

This is definitely great news for many reasons. One being that the Philippines is one of the world's top labor-exporting nations, and remittances - transfer of money by a foreign worker to an individual in his or her home country - make up a significant % of the Philippine economy.

This I have been telling some of my friends from there to consider using it
So it has a large market to grow into the country really does have a lot of remittances going to it.

[bryant.coleman]

Maybe so, but if nothing else, it helps bring more awareness of bitcoin to the population whose family members remit from overseas and awareness of another, more cheaper option than Western Union.

The previous attempts to use Bitcoins for the remittance payments have been complete failures (for example, the M-Pesa / Kipochi setup in Kenya and Tanzania). And as far as I know, no one is currently using any Bitcoin service for sending remittance payments. I really hope that the situation will change in the near future. 

[Junko]

Maybe so, but if nothing else, it helps bring more awareness of bitcoin to the population whose family members remit from overseas and awareness of another, more cheaper option than Western Union.

The previous attempts to use Bitcoins for the remittance payments have been complete failures (for example, the M-Pesa / Kipochi setup in Kenya and Tanzania). And as far as I know, no one is currently using any Bitcoin service for sending remittance payments. I really hope that the situation will change in the near future.  

Yeah, I'm sure it will take time. But sooner or later people will realize they don't have to get raped with fees when sending money back to their families. And hopefully, then those types of business/services will fare better.

[bryant.coleman]

Maybe so, but if nothing else, it helps bring more awareness of bitcoin to the population whose family members remit from overseas and awareness of another, more cheaper option than Western Union.

The previous attempts to use Bitcoins for the remittance payments have been complete failures (for example, the M-Pesa / Kipochi setup in Kenya and Tanzania). And as far as I know, no one is currently using any Bitcoin service for sending remittance payments. I really hope that the situation will change in the near future.  

Yeah, I'm sure it will take time. But sooner or later people will realize they don't have to get raped with fees when sending money back to their families. And hopefully, then those types of business/services will fare better.

OK. Finally I have located a thread, posted by an user who used Bitcoins to send remittances back home. 

He sent $30 from the US to Uganda, using Bitcoins through Localbitcoins.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=616845.0

[qwerty555]

remitting $'s from usa and similar to Philippine pesos via FB cost is 4-5% including exchange rate costs if you have a bank account.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=626751.msg7007350#msg7007350

if they used the atm what would be the cost..for comparison?

[Junko]

@bryant.coleman: Yes, localbitcoins. Wow, the Philippines looks under-served on there. Someone could make a lot of $/btc - or rather, pesos/btc I should say, it seems.

remitting $'s from usa and similar to Philippine pesos via FB cost is 4-5% including exchange rate costs if you have a bank account.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=626751.msg7007350#msg7007350

if they used the atm what would be the cost..for comparison?

I don't believe one can exchange btc for cash with this atm, but according to the article, "Bitmarket [the company that ordered it] additionally offers cash settlements where you can convert Bitcoins into Philippine pesos daily.

I wasn't able to find their rate on their website. The only rate I could find was one for merchants who use Bitmarket. I guess they have s Coinbase-like service along with selling stuff for btc.

[bryant.coleman]

remitting $'s from usa and similar to Philippine pesos via FB cost is 4-5% including exchange rate costs if you have a bank account.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=626751.msg7007350#msg7007350

if they used the atm what would be the cost..for comparison?

Wow... that means that their fees (4-5%) is less than half of that charged by the other money transmitters such as Western Union and Moneygram. WU usually charges 10% to 12% for money transfers to Philippines from the US.

[Xona]

Good to see these ATM's going throughout the world and bringing further interest and coverage to BTC's. Other countries in the region already had tons of them so it's to see a new one rising in a new country -let's see if it get interest-