President Rodrigo Duterte led on Thursday the launching of the Overseas Filipino Bank dedicated to the needs of overseas Filipino workers in Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila.

In his speech, Duterte said the opening of the OF Bank was one of his promises when he assumed office.

"I set up a bank for you (OFWs) so that the charges will be less and then you can own the bank someday. This is one of the promises," he said.

Aside from the OFWs, OF Bank said in a statement that Filipino immigrants and those with resident visas abroad will benefit.

The creation of OF Bank as a wholly-owned savings bank subsidiary of state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines that will cater to the needs of the sector will strengthen the government's presence in the remittance market and eventually influence lower costs of bank remittance, it said.

OF Bank said it will operate both in domestic and international fronts serving the remittance, deposit, investment, payment and loan requirements of overseas Filipinos.

Within the second quarter, OF Bank said it will open three foreign representative offices inside the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi, and Philippine Consular Offices in Dubai and in Bahrain.

Duterte made the promise to open a bank for OFWs during his visit to Japan in October 2016. Celerina Monte/DMS