Introducing Ruffa Gutierrez, Kabayan Remit’s first global ambassador

Ruffa Gutierrez is Kabayan Remit’s first official global ambassador. The actress, model, entrepreneur, and beauty queen sealed the deal with the money remittance app on 10 April at a contract signing and press conference event in Super Sam, Quezon City, Philippines.

As global ambassador, Ruffa will appear in Kabayan Remit’s official website, promotional materials, social media content, and international events.

“I’m so grateful and so proud to be a part of the Kabayan Remit family, whose commitment is to really help hardworking Filipinos overseas to send love to the Philippines in the most convenient way,” she said.

Ruffa is the eldest and only daughter of veteran actors Eddie Gutierrez and Annabelle Rama. Following in her parents’ footsteps, she has been acting and modelling since the 1980s. In 1993, she gained national attention for winning the Binibining Pilipinas – World crown. She has been a household name ever since.

However, Ruffa’s celebrity status is not the only reason she became Kabayan Remit’s global ambassador.

“Ms. Ruffa is a mom—a sister—who knows the importance of loving and supporting her family,” said Princess Manalo, Head of Operations at Kabayan Remit. Manalo also said these are values Ruffa shares with the overseas Filipino workers Kabayan Remit serves.

Karina Salve Untalan, Kabayan Remit Commercial Marketing Manager, added to Manalo’s statement, saying Ruffa “embodies all of the hardworking Filipinos abroad.”

Apart from acting and modelling, Ruffa is currently pursuing a master’s degree in communication at the Philippine Women’s University. In 2013, she was also accepted into the International Political Economy summer program at King’s College London.

Above all these, Ruffa is a mother to two young women, Lorin and Venice, who are pursuing undergraduate degrees in the US.

“I know also what it feels like to be far from our loved ones in the Philippines,” said Ruffa.

Ruffa spent a part of her childhood in the United States, helping her parents sell kitchenware for additional allowance. She recalled how her parents had missed acting and eventually decided to return to the Philippines.

As an adult, Ruffa worked as a television host in the US and later spent four years in Istanbul, Turkey as a housewife and a mother to her two young daughters. She would eventually come home to raise her daughters and resume her show business career in the Philippines.

Recalling her time abroad, Ruffa commended OFWs for their strength and resilience to continue working far from home and family. She said she is glad there are now easier and cost-efficient ways for OFWs to send love to the Philippines.

“Hopefully, we will also expand—not only to just be in Canada, the [United Kingdom], and the US—but sana in the Middle East as well, kasi maraming mga Pilipino din doon (but hopefully in the Middle East as well, because there are a lot of Filipinos there too).”

Ruffa does not work with just any product or company. She makes time to test products and check a company’s reputation before signing with them. 

“I also want to make sure that I’m endorsing a product or a brand I truly trust and admire and believe in,” she said. According to the multihyphenate actress, these qualities make it easier for her to endorse the product or brand.

Ruffa said she experienced the benefits of Kabayan Remit herself after she attended the Taste of Manila festival in Canada last year.

She said she was impressed by how quickly she received a remittance from the Kabayan Remit team, and hoped more OFWs can try the app to send love home to the Philippines within the day and at competitive exchange rates.

“’Yung bayad sa akin dito one day lang, nasa account ko na! Hindi siya ganoong katagal, and the money is coming from abroad. So nakita ko talaga, before I endorsed them, kung gaano kabilis talaga magpadala ng love from the UK, the US, and Canada sa akin dito [in the Philippines],” she said.

 (“I received my payment from Kabayan Remit in one day. It didn’t take that long, and the money is coming from abroad. So I really saw, before I endorsed them, how quickly they could send love from the UK, the US, and Canada to me here [in the Philippines].”)

Endorsed by Ruffa Gutierrez, the newly updated Kabayan Remit is a secure money transfer app that lets OFWs in the UK, Canada, and the US send money to the Philippines.

Operating since 2012, the app uses bank-level security features and data encryption to ensure OFWs’ hard-earned funds reach their loved ones’ bank accounts, e-wallets, or trusted cash remittance centres in the Philippines.

Among the reputable bank accounts Kabayan Remit accepts are:

• Banco de Oro
• Bank of the Philippine Islands
• Metrobank
• Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation

Kabayan Remit also lets OFWs send remittances to e-wallets like:

• GCash
• Maya
• ShopeePay

Additionally, OFWs can use the app to send money to these well-known Filipino cash remittance centres:

• Cebuana Lhuillier
• LBC Express
• Palawan Pawnshop

And Kabayan Remit is not just for sending money to loved ones. OFWs can also use the app to maximise their remittances by paying their government contributions (i.e., Social Security System, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG), paying for their loved ones’ education in the Philippines, or investing in real estate.

Setting it apart from other money transfer apps, Kabayan Remit has competitive exchange rates, low service fees, and a 24/7 bilingual customer support team that allows OFWs to get the help they need in the language their comfortable in. OFWs can also evaluate Kabayan Remit’s rates using the brand’s exchange rate calculator here.

To sign up for Kabayan Remit, simply download the app and follow these three easy steps:

1. Open a free Kabayan Remit mobile app account.
2. Enter your loved one’s bank, e-wallet, or cash collection details.
3. Start remitting funds.

Lucky OFWs may even qualify for prizes from Kabayan Remit’s rewards program and seasonal raffles.

Last year, Kabayan Remit gifted free round-trip tickets to the Philippines to a lucky Pinoy.