InSight #25: Challenges and Opportunities for Banking Remittances: Key Elements Needed to Develop a Strategy to Bank Recipients of Remittances
By Maria Jaramillo - Published: 2008
In 2006 an estimated U.S.$300 billion in remittances—over 2 percent of U.S. gross domestic product in the same year—were sent worldwide by approximately 150 million immigrants. With such high volume it is no wonder that financial institutions, payment companies, and money-transfer organizations have been trying to tap into this market, not only to offer money-transfer services, but also with the hope of providing access to financial services to this generally unbanked client base. This InSight presents some of the key findings as well as the opportunities and challenges that ACCION International has identified in the banking of recipient households. It presents recommendations of six key elements that financial institutions should take into account in order to develop an effective strategy to bank recipients of remittances.
