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After saying “It is…not right to become rich overnight by betting on blockchain,” Chinese billionaire Jack Ma launched a cross-border remittance service that uses blockchain to help people send money to the Philippines at transaction fees that are much lower than banks and other money-transfer firms charge.
Mr. Ma. said banks were “too greedy” in charging high fees on money transfers and that Ant’s goal is to bring low-cost financial transactions to everyday people. The new mobile-phone-based service is aimed at the roughly 200,000 Filipino workers in Hong Kong who collectively sent about $700 million back to the Philippines last year, according to Ant. Users of the service won’t be charged any fees for the first three months, and a regular rate will be set later on. The move comes after Ant failed this year to acquire global money-transfer company MoneyGram International Inc. after a U.S. national security panel refused to approve the $1.2 billion deal.
