Transactions of Long Awaited Mobile Money Rise in Europe, Says Frost & Sullivan

LONDON, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Both mobile operators and banks are turning to mobile transactions to foster loyalty and drive revenues. Ranging from vouchers and bank balance checks to remittance and top-up payments, mobile money is finally coming to fruition in both the banked and unbanked sector, while near field communication (NFC) promises to be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.wireless.frost.com), Money in Mobile -- European Transactions, estimates the mobile money market in Western Europe to grow to 4 to 5 billion Euros by 2013. The research examines both the banked and unbanked sectors and segments mobile money into four areas, namely: non-NFC based m-payments, mobile banking, remittance, and NFC based m-payments.

"Solutions targeting the developed world require a long-term strategy, even as providers will need to find a viable solution for retail payments (B2C)," notes Frost & Sullivan Principal Analyst Sharifah Amirah. "NFC is potentially a solution, but hardware costs and mass market availability still remain key challenges for its widespread adoption. In the mean time, SMS-based services will drive growth."

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PHILIPPINES: BDO waives remittance fee for flood donations

Diaspora Journey: A concerted effort of banks and money transfer operators in time of calamities.

MANILA, Philippines - BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s top remittance bank, has waived its remittance service fees on donations sent to institutions participating in relief efforts for victims of tropical storm Ondoy.

The bank, through its remittance offices in Hong Kong, Macau, USA, Italy and Germany, said there are no service fees charged on cash donations sent to BDO Foundation and ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.’s Sagip-Kapamilya.

A number of remittance partners of BDO all over the world have also given their commitment on this effort. In Asia, for instance, those participating are BTI Pesos Express in Singapore, Afima Express in Brunei, EEC International Phil Corp. in Taiwan and Forex World Australia Pty., Ltd. In the US and Canada, BDO’s remittance partners Chartered Forex, E-Pera Corp., Mercury Quick, New York Bay and Continental Exchange are also helping by waiving the remittance fees for the said institutions. The same goes for CBN Grupo, Global Express Money Remittance and Safe Transfer Ltd in Europe and BDO’s remittance partners in the Middle East - Leela Megh Exchange, Al Ansari Exchange and Al Ghurair Exchange. BDO has also arranged with its global money transfer company partner Xoom Corp. to waive the service fee for all remittances credited to the Philippine Red Cross account.

A day after Ondoy hit Metro Manila and some parts of Luzon, the bank started receiving queries from OFWs and Filipinos residing abroad on how they can send donations to those affected and make sure that their contribution will reach the recipients.

With the cancellation of the remittance service fees, concerned Filipinos abroad will be encouraged to send monetary help to victims of the typhoon.

PHILIPPINES: Match remittances, government urged

Economy
Written by Dennis D. Estopace / Reporter
Wednesday, 11 November 2009 21:17

THE government should match the money sent by Filipinos overseas to boost the country’s ability to survive a crisis, former Social Security System chief Corazon de la Paz-Bernardo said.

“The steady growth of OFW [overseas Filipino worker] remittances should be complemented by a public investment program that is hinged on improving a major infrastructure base such as road and even mass-transport systems,” said de la Paz-Bernardo, currently president of the International Social Security Association (Issa). She spoke during a forum on government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) on Wednesday.

She cited her experience as SSS for seven years on how state-owned enterprises could wield institutional leverage in view of the collapse of the global financial system.

“With financial markets continuing to unravel close to two years since the recession, the domestic economy has become heavily reliant on remittances,” she said. Read more

Dhaka 8th largest remittance earner in developing world

A Z M Anas

Bangladesh became the eighth largest remittance earner in the developing world last year as it showed resilience in the face of stinging global recession, according to the latest World Bank data.

The Development Prospect Group of the bank, in a revised estimate, said that the country's remittance flow amounted to US$9.0 billion in 2008, catapulting it into the league of top 10 recipients as Bangladesh edged out Egypt and Vietnam. Read more

Pakistan’s October Remittances From Overseas Workers Rose 63%

By Farhan Sharif

Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Remittances from Pakistanis living overseas rose to $758.3 million in October as workers sent more money home from the United Arab Emirates, United States and Saudi Arabia.

Transfers of funds rose by $292.2 million, or 63 percent, in the fourth month of the fiscal year that began July 1, the Karachi-based State Bank of Pakistan said today in an e-mailed statement. Remittances in the four month period ended Oct. 31 rose 32 percent to $3.1 billion.

Workers in the Emirates transferred $175.2 million, up from $75.9 million a year earlier. Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia sent home $142.9 million, up from $96.8 million, and Pakistanis in the U.S. transferred $154.3 million, compared with $127.3 million. Read more

El Salvador remittances fall 10 pct in Jan-Oct

SAN SALVADOR, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Remittances by Salvadoran migrant workers to relatives back home fell 10 percent in the first 10 months of this year compared to the same period a year ago, the central bank said on Tuesday.

Migrants sent home $2.8 billion from January to October, the bank said. The decline comes amid the U.S. recession.

Remittances from 2.5 million Salvadoran workers in the United States are the main source of foreign exchange inflows to the impoverished Central American country. (Reporting by Guillermo Mejia) Source

PHILIPPINES: Remittance through Philpost in early 2010

EARLY next year, most overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) can send their remittances to their families in the country in seconds, and with cheaper rate compared with other remittance centers.

This will be made possible by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., (Pagcor) donation of at least P20 million to the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) for the improvement of the latter’s information-technology infrastructure.

Postmaster General Hector Villanueva said in an interview that PhilPost will use the money to buy computers to develop its remittance service to at least 100 post offices nationwide, including cities and municipalities in Metro Manila, Davao, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga, among others.

“We handle 1 million letters a day. Many of the letters contain small denominations of foreign currency. [Through the Pagcor donation] we will purchase P20 million worth of hardware, accessories and software to computerize 100 post offices in major provincial cities in and outside the metropolis,” Villanueva said at the sidelines of PhilPost’s 111th
anniversary celebration at Manila Central Post Office. Read more

Nigeria: World Bank - Citizens Remit $10 Billion Home

Lagos — With an estimated $10 billion inflow of foreign exchange from its citizens abroad this year, Nigeria yesterday emerged the sixth highest destination of remittances from citizens of developing nations in the Diaspora.

The World Bank, which gave the figure in its Migration and Development Brief released at the weekend said in the updated remittance flow table, India, China and Mexico retained the top three positions among developing countries and attracted funds up to $52 billion, $49 billion and $26 billion respectively. Read more

Better protection of migrants’ rights—UN chief

MANILA, Philippines—In an era where people are crossing borders in greater numbers seeking better opportunities, it is more vital than ever that states safeguard the rights of migrants, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told a high-level gathering in Athens Wednesday.

“Let us never forget than in the end, policies and laws are really about people and values,” he said in his remarks to the opening of the third Global Forum on Migration and Development which were e-mailed to media outfits by the UN office in Manila.

The Secretary General noted that the number of international migrants today is greater than at anytime in history, with 214 million people living outside their country of birth. Read more

700 Million Worldwide Desire to Migrate Permanently

November 2, 2009
700 Million Worldwide Desire to Migrate Permanently
U.S. tops desired destination countries
by Neli Esipova and Julie Ray

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Every day, migrants leave their homelands behind for new lives in other countries. Reflecting this desire, rather than the reality of the numbers that actually migrate, Gallup finds about 16% of the world's adults would like to move to another country permanently if they had the chance. This translates to roughly 700 million worldwide -- more than the entire adult population of North and South America combined. Read more

PAKISTAN: Remittances to Pakistan from Kingdom soaring

06 November 2009
JEDDAH: Overseas workers' remittances to Pakistan in September this year jumped to $806.12 million, a 22 percent increase over the same month in 2008. This took the third quarter (July-September 2009) figures to $2.33 billion, due to the launch of Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI), said a top executive of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

Remittances from Saudi Arabia also made an impressive record. Pakistani nationals living in the Kingdom sent $430.75 million in the third quarter, an increase of $32.73 million or 8.22 percent over the same period in 2008.

"This is the direct result of the launch of PRI and other measures taken by the government of Pakistan," senior executive vice president of NBP Khalid bin Shaheen, told Arab News on Wednesday.

PRI is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry for Overseas Pakistanis and State Bank of Pakistan, which is the country's central bank. Launched in August this year, it aims to double the flow of remittances within three years. "We are aiming to take remittances up to $13-14 billion by 2011," said Shaheen, who is currently touring Saudi Arabia as a representative of PRI, of which his bank is a member. His itinerary includes meeting top executives of Saudi banks. He arrived after visiting Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Read more

BANGLADESH: Remittance on growth path

Reduced migrant outflow notwithstanding

IN spite of being arrayed against adversities, remittance flows into the country have been on the growth path. It is the rate of increase that has been subject to fluctuations but not growth as such. On top of this, we now have a definitively positive piece of news in that the WB's projections of a reduced remittance growth for the current fiscal are already being assailed if the figure for the first four months of the current fiscal is any guide. The growth of inflow stood at 21.23 percent during July to October and there is cautious optimism about outlook for economic recovery in the host countries possibly brightening up in the remainder of the year.

The figures speak for themselves as Bangladesh recorded remittance inflow of $3.61billion between July and October, 2009 compared with $2.98 billion in the same period last year. The forex reserve has crossed $9 billion in August compared with $7.74 billion in July. Read more

INDIA: MasterCard eyes $50 bn inward remittance market

MUMBAI: Mastercard is scouting for new opportunities in India. The payments company is eyeing the $50-billion inward remittance market and is
also registering its presence in mobile banking.

Some banks have joined hands with MasterCard for an inward-remittance product which will allow a worker based in say the UAE to send money to India using his MasterCard. The money transferred will be credited to a MasterCard account in India, which can be either a debit or a credit card account. “In this case, customers on both sides have bank accounts. The transactions can be done on a real time basis and we can provide the service at a much cheaper cost. Also checks and controls can be maintained,” points Joshua L Peirez, group executive, innovative platforms Masstercard. Read more

PHILIPPINES: Contribution of remittances to GNP seen shrinking

REMITTANCES SENT by Filipinos overseas, which now account for 10 percent of the gross national product, may no longer contribute as much to the economy seven years from now.

This was according to state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines, which said the economy needed to prepare itself for the time when it would no longer receive a substantial boost from the money sent by overseas Filipino workers.

“Currently, remittances are a major growth driver and it will continue to be in the next seven years. After that, however, things may change,” Reynaldo David, DBP president and chief executive officer, told reporters Thursday.

David was one of the speakers during a business forum organized by the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific [ADFIAP].

Over the medium to long term, he said, more and more OFWs and their families were expected to live permanently in their host countries. As a result, he said, remittances sent to the Philippines would likely shrink.

By the time that happens, he said , the Philippines should have already strengthened its economy and that growth would be sustained even with less money sent from abroad.

Currently, remittances contribute about 10 percent of the country’s GNP and fuel consumption, which accounts for 70 percent of the gross domestic product.

GNP is the sum of the values of goods produced and services rendered by Filipinos, both here and abroad. GDP is the sum of the values of goods produced and services rendered within the country, both by Filipinos and foreigners. Read more

Kenya: Forex remittances via mobile phones

Kenyans can now receive remittances from family and friends in the United Kingdom via their mobile phones through a service called M-PESA. This follows a successful pilot project with selected outlets in the UK over the last three months.
mobile phone

The international component of M-PESA makes Safaricom the first telecom company to offer a mobile based international money transfer service. The pilot according to Itnewsafrica.com engaged three agents - Western Union, Provident Capital Transfers and KenTv.

A total of 19 outlets were carefully selected to cover areas with relatively high number of Kenyans, including Reading, London, Luton, Wembley and Glasgow, the report said. Read more

Philippines: Remittances to lose their luster

REMITTANCES from migrant workers will remain a major growth driver in the medium term but could lose significance after, the chief of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) said.

DBP President Reynaldo G. David, speaking at a panel discussion on remittances at an Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) forum, urged the government and businessmen to create more local jobs to offset a likely decline in the cross-border flows.

He asked: "The growth rates will continue in the next six to seven years, but how long will that go on?" Read more

First Ever Debit Card Service for Somalia

HARGEISA, Somalia, October 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Dahabshiil, the largest international money transfer business in the Horn of Africa, has launched the first ever debit card service in Somalia to help individuals and businesses make and receive payments.

The service, called Dahabshiil eCash, will enable customers to pay for goods and services at any shop, restaurant, hotel or petrol station that is an official Dahabshiil merchant and has a point of sale terminal on the premises.

Abdirashid Duale, CEO of Dahabshiil, said: "We are delighted to be the first company in the region to provide our customers with the facility to make and receive payments via debit card. This underlines our intention to be at the forefront of the region's banking and money transfer sectors. Read more

AFRICA: ADB moves to enhance remittance flow to Africa

By Babajide Komolafe

African Developemnt Bank has commenced moves to enhance inflow of remittances from African migrant. Last week Friday, the Bank Group signed an agreement with the French government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to establish a multilateral Trust Fund to improve African migrant remittances.

The agreement was signed by the ADB President, Donald Kaberuka; the French Immigration, Integration and Cooperative Development Minister, Eric Besson and IFAD’s Director for West and Central Africa, Mohamed Béavogui.Read more

Juniper Research: Half a Million People Will Use Mobile Money Transfer Services by 2014

Research and analysis firm Juniper Research (News - Alert) recently revealed a study showing that global consumer demand for money transfer services will significantly increase and cross the 500 million threshold by 2014.


This proliferation of mobile money transfer services will be mainly in developing countries, the firm’s research finds. Details of this analysis have been outlined in its latest report, “Mobile Money Transfer & Remittances: Markets, Forecasts & Strategies 2009-2014.” The report further purports that several new mobile money services which are in the pipeline will counter political, regulatory and commercial obstacles before their services can be distributed in the market. Read more

Nigeria: The Nation Earns $3.3 Billion Agriculture Remittances-Ifad

Abuja — According to a World Bank record presented at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) remittances forum in Tunisia yesterday, Nigeria ranks top among five leading African countries with the highest remittances inflow.

Making a presentation at the IFAD forum, Director of the Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions Wolday Amha said Nigeria is leading the pack of the top five African countries in terms of remittances inflow under a World Bank survey followed by Kenya, Sudan, Senegal and Sudan who get $1.3 billion, $1.2 billion, $874 million and $856 million respectively. Read more

Dollars Without Borders: Can the Global Flow of Remittances Survive the Crisis?

Between 2003 and 2008, on the back of a growing world economy, remittances more than doubled, reaching as much as $330 billion in 2008. Now, with the world's largest economies in steep decline, many fear that the flow of remittances will also take a hit, threatening the millions who depend on funds sent by relatives and friends working abroad to meet basic needs.

In fact, remittances are proving to be one of the more resilient pieces of the global economy in the downturn, and will likely play a large role in the economic development and recovery of many poor countries. Remittances provide the most tangible link between migration and development, a relationship that has only increased in importance since the crash. To ensure that these funds can move efficiently and easily around the globe, governments of rich and poor countries should attempt to make remittances as accessible and cheap as possible. Read more

Migration: Remittances Also Drive Political Change

* by Thalif Deen (united nations)
* Monday, October 05, 2009
* Inter Press Service

The world's 200 million international migrants have traditionally been viewed in terms of dollars and cents: how much hard currency have they remitted to their home countries?

But a new study, commissioned by the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) and released Monday, also focuses on the political side of the equation.

What role did migrants play in the politics or civil wars in their home countries: Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Mozambique, Turkey, Morocco?

In Lebanon, returning migrants used the wealth earned abroad to engage in politics, particularly when new political forces were formed after the 1989 Ta'ef Accord ending the country's longstanding civil war. Read more

EVENT: Results Presentation of “Survey on Remittances 2009, Childhood and Adolescence”

Friday, 30-10-2009 to Friday, 30-10-2009

Guatemala City, Guatemala - IOM Guatemala and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are presenting the results of the “Survey on Remittances 2009, Childhood and Adolescence” at the Hotel Real Intercontinental on 30 October 2009.

The “Survey on Remittances 2009, Childhood and Adolescence” is part of the series of annual surveys carried out by IOM Guatemala since 2002.

The problems affecting children and adolescents as a consequence of international emigration, mainly due to the absence of their parents, have become an increasing concern for governments and the international community. These problems are often the cause of international emigration, or they may prompt the involvement of children and adolescents in gangs or illegal activities. Read more

India: Rupee rolls up to cheer up remittances

Saturday, Mar 15, 2008

Gulf News

The rupee's depreciation in the past few weeks should bring cheer to the millions of Indian expatriates in the Gulf. The decline is expected to continue in the coming months as turbulent stock markets and a widening trade deficit take their toll.

The rupee has weakened more than two per cent against the dollar so far this year, pressured by equity outflows and a severe shortage of spot dollars in the market. Curbs on foreign borrowing imposed by the government last year and the global credit woes caused by the US subprime crisis have also cut inflows.

After gaining more than 12 per cent in 2007, the rupee has fallen to around 40.5 per dollar, its weakest since mid-September and farther away from a near 10-year high of 39.16 in November. [Read more]

BANGLADESH: EBL, RPCF signs agreement to simplify remittance payments

Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) will soon launch multiple remittance services products through their Telco Partners, Visa Card and other electronic payment channels which will simplify the migrant's remittances in Bangladesh.

With this end in view, EBL signed a grant implementation agreement with Remittance and Payments Challenge Fund (RPCF) in Dhaka recently.

Ali Reza Iftekhar, Managing Director and CEO of Eastern Bank Ltd and Robert Smith, Challenge Fund Manager of RPCF signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides. Senior executives from both the sides were present on the occasion.

Under the agreement RPCF will support the EBL's visionary initiative towards simplification of remittances payments through various Electronic Alternate Payment Channels.

RPCF is the cost sharing grant facility of the remittances and payments partnership between Bangladeshi banks and institutions and UK Department for International Developments. Source