Meet Katherine Neri, Operations Executive
Katherine Neri is an Operations Executive at WorldRemit, and based in the company’s office in Cebu, The Phillipines. As one of the early hires in our Filipino customer service team, Katherine’s valuable customer-centric insights have made her an asset to the Operations team where she sits today. In this edition of Why I Work at WorldRemit, Katherine shares her journey.
Tell us about your journey into fintech — how did you move from customer service to operations?
Like most of my colleagues who started with customer service, fintech was a completely unfamiliar word to me. I’ve never heard of the term even from my previous employer. Four months into working for WorldRemit, the Operations Executive role in Cebu opened up. I curiously applied for the position and was accepted along with two of my teammates. You can only imagine the challenge of working for an entirely different team with just 3 people learning from each other with minimal supervision. It was one of the most challenging yet fulfilling experience for me so far.
When I started working for the Operations team, I began to fully understand what it meant to be a part of a fintech company due to the planning ahead and troubleshooting we handle on a day-to-day basis.
Not only do we work within the Operations team to support Customer Service but we also coordinate with the other teams such as Product, Commercial, Engineering, and Finance to ensure that processes are in order.
What brought you to WorldRemit?
Before WorldRemit, I spent most of my career within the business process outsourcing industry of Cebu. You could say that as a young, career-driven individual, I was looking for a company which could support my curiosity and nurture my personal development. I wanted to find a high-growth company that had a strong social impact.
When I joined Worldremit in Cebu, I was one of the early pioneers in the Customer Service team. We started as only 10 people in a small office room before transitioning to join the Operations team as one of their first executives in Cebu. I’m proud to say that in just a short span of time, WorldRemit Phillipines has grown to become the company’s largest office.
What is your role at WorldRemit? Can you tell us about what that entails?
As an Operations Executive, our scope of support is quite expansive. Our work involves a wide range of real-time monitoring and systems management. We aim to reduce customer friction and grow our network by elevating the processes and technical aspects which are already working and continue to look for ways in improving the services that are readily offered to our customers. In many ways, we are the front-runners in anticipating and addressing technical challenges that would cause any delay to our goal of a seamless flow of remittances.
How have you seen the impact of remittances in the Philippines?
Living in the Philippines myself, I’ve seen the impact of remittances first-hand. Globally, the Phillipines receives the fourth-highest number of remittances each year — almost $34 billion. Filipinos are one of the most hard-working people in the world who maintain their close family ties regardless of where they are geographically located. It is in our nature to help support and provide for our families and even friends as we have been culturally brought up that way. With the growth of technology, sending remittances has never been easier for overseas Filipino workers (OFW’s) around the world. That’s why Philippines has quickly become WorldRemit’s biggest market. International remittances are not only benefiting people’s lives, but also our country’s economic growth.
What do you enjoy about working in a global business?
I’m a goal-oriented person myself and working for a global company has substantially improved my knowledge and skills relating to the financial and technical aspect of business. I do appreciate knowing that as a high-growth company with an international footprit, we have the power to accomplish our vision and positively contribute to the economy at a large scale.
Any advice for young people hoping to break into tech?
We have the advantage of time and are presented with the tools that technology can offer in today’s generation. Use it as productively as possible and grab any opportunity that is offered. While it’s important to prepare, you can do a significant amount of learning on the job. Cultivate a good work ethic and a positive attitude towards attaining your goals and challenge the status quo.
To learn more about career opportunities at WorldRemit, visit our website.
