MANILA — Foreign exchange is becoming a more important consideration for Filipinos whose income, family expenses, or travel plans involve different currencies, as overseas employment and international travel remain common.
The Department of Migrant Workers recorded 1.58 million overseas Filipino workers and seafarers deployed as of June 2025, highlighting the number of families whose finances depend partly on income earned abroad.
For these households, financial planning goes beyond earning and saving money. Exchange rates can affect how much an overseas worker’s income is worth when converted to pesos and how much a family ultimately receives.
Understanding currency movements and comparing exchange rates can help families make more informed decisions about when and where to convert foreign currency, particularly when managing remittances and other cross-border transactions.
“Financial empowerment means giving Filipinos the knowledge and the right financial solutions to make better decisions at every stage of their financial journey,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, president and CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier.
“As more Filipinos earn and transact across borders, foreign exchange should become part of the conversation around managing money because it directly affects the value of their money,” he said.
Foreign exchange also plays a role in international travel. Filipinos traveling abroad need to decide how much foreign currency to carry and when to convert their pesos, while fluctuations in exchange rates can affect their purchasing power.
About 29.1 million international passengers passed through Philippine airports in 2025, according to industry data, reflecting the volume of cross-border travel involving Filipinos and foreign visitors.
For consumers, the choice of where and when to exchange currency can depend on the exchange rate, transaction costs, convenience, and the amount needed.
Cebuana Lhuillier MoneyXchange offers foreign currency exchange through its branch network. Its Click & Collect service allows customers to reserve foreign currency online and collect it at a selected branch.
“Foreign exchange can seem like a simple transaction, but for many Filipinos, it is connected to something much bigger — their livelihood, their family’s financial needs, their business or their plans abroad,” said Philippe Andre Lhuillier, senior executive vice president of Cebuana Lhuillier.
“Our role is to make that decision easier to understand and more accessible so Filipinos can approach every currency exchange with greater confidence,” he said.
As more Filipinos manage money across borders, foreign exchange has become another factor to consider alongside saving, budgeting, and investing.
For overseas workers and their families, this means paying attention not only to how much money they earn or send home, but also to how exchange rates can affect its value when it reaches the Philippines. PR
