Overseas Filipino Workers' Preference for a Remittance Center in United Arab Emirates: A Conjoint Analysis

Abstract

Remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) constitute a critical pillar of the Philippine economy, yet the service attributes that most powerfully shape OFWs' choice of remittance centers remain poorly understood in the extant literature, which has concentrated on macroeconomic remittance impacts rather than consumer-level provider selection. This study applies conjoint analysis to identify the relative importance of five service attributes—transaction speed, charges, location, exchange rate, and promotional offerings—in the remittance center preferences of OFWs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A quantitative, non-experimental cross-sectional design was employed. A researcher-developed conjoint instrument comprising 20 fractional-factorial plancards was administered to 202 OFW respondents across all seven UAE emirates. Part-worth utility estimates were derived using IBM SPSS conjoint analysis. Findings indicate that transaction speed holds the highest relative importance (25.167%), followed by exchange rate (20.450%), charges (16.392%), promotions (16.220%), and location (15.927%). Counterintuitively, utility estimates favor delayed over immediate receipt (after 24 hours: .029; after 48 hours: .047), reflecting OFW prioritization of transaction security over speed. Exchange rates above prevailing reported levels carry positive utility (.143), consistent with the interpretation of premium pricing as a quality signal in financial services. Location near shopping centers (.017) yields the highest locational utility, while promotional strategies anchored in lottery draws (.062) are preferred over transactional discounts. Simulation modelling revealed that the most-preferred remittance center profile achieved 65.6% market share under the Maximum Utility model, substantially outperforming the least-preferred alternative (34.4%). These findings provide an empirically grounded framework for remittance service providers, market entrants, and policymakers seeking to align service design with the demonstrated preferences of a large and commercially significant migrant worker population.