NewsWhore
04-09-2008, 05:30 PM
The World Bank is concerned about the size of remittance flows being compromised by the US economic slowdown. The World Bank is recommending a series of actions to be taken to facilitate remittance flows and maximize their development impact. A new World Bank report entitled "Remittances and Development: Lessons from Latin America" recommends increasing competition and transparency among service providers in order to reduce the costs of remittance transfers, and increasing access to banking services among migrants and recipients to enhance the development impact of remittances. Humberto Lopez, World Bank lead economist for Central America, and co-editor of the publication considers that linking remittances to financial services is "crucial for improving the long-term impact of remittances on development."
In Latin America, most remittances are sent through money transfer operators, with banks maintaining a relatively small share of the market.
The report recommends that governments and remittance service providers facilitate transparency through the collection and publication of comparative prices and conditions of service among different providers. The authors pointed to the example of the Mexican Government, which introduced a website where people can compare costs, levels of security and location of money transfer points to send money from the United States to Mexico: www.condusef.gob.mx (http://www.condusef.gob.mx). These efforts can be complemented by providing basic financial literacy training for users.
The Bank also suggests that authorities in recipient countries enable the participation of a greater number of financial institutions in the remittances market by ensuring that there are no excessively burdensome regulatory constraints to their participation. In particular, savings and loans, credit unions, and microfinance companies may be well positioned to act as disbursing agents, as their networks may be closer to the usual recipients of remittances than those of large commercial banks.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)
In Latin America, most remittances are sent through money transfer operators, with banks maintaining a relatively small share of the market.
The report recommends that governments and remittance service providers facilitate transparency through the collection and publication of comparative prices and conditions of service among different providers. The authors pointed to the example of the Mexican Government, which introduced a website where people can compare costs, levels of security and location of money transfer points to send money from the United States to Mexico: www.condusef.gob.mx (http://www.condusef.gob.mx). These efforts can be complemented by providing basic financial literacy training for users.
The Bank also suggests that authorities in recipient countries enable the participation of a greater number of financial institutions in the remittances market by ensuring that there are no excessively burdensome regulatory constraints to their participation. In particular, savings and loans, credit unions, and microfinance companies may be well positioned to act as disbursing agents, as their networks may be closer to the usual recipients of remittances than those of large commercial banks.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)