Remittances to northern States on the rise: Western Union

Kolkata, Aug. 25

There has been a change in the pattern of job-related emigration out of India, creating new sources of remittances into the country.

Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and North Eastern States have emerged as new pockets attracting remittances from outside, according to Mr Anil Kapur, Managing Director, South and South East Asia, Western Union. (NYSE:WU) Traditionally, Kerala and Punjab accounted for major chunk of the total foreign remittances into the country. Read more

Western Union ups rural reach, ropes in Bandhan Microfinance

As part of its efforts to increase its rural business, money transfer services leader Western Union has roped in leading microfinance firm Bandhan to hawk its service across the hinterlands.

Under an agreement inked between Western Union India's principal agent Weizmann Forex and Bandhan in Kolkata today, the microfiance firm will activate 800 of its locations by the year-end, a Western Union release said here today.

"With the addition of Bandhan, which has a customer base of over 2.8 million, we hope to further reinforce our rural presence shortly," Western Union Managing Director for South and Southeast Asia Anil Kapur said, adding the alliance further reinforces our outreach to rural consumers helping them in turn to access global money transfer services. Read more

MFIC, Smart Communications partner to expand remittance delivery in Philippines

US-based Microfinance International Corporation (MFIC) has partnered with Philippine mobile operator Smart Communications to expand its remittances delivery in the Philippines.

Smart will pay-out the remittances sent through MFIC’s money transfer solution ARIAS, originated by financial service providers in the US, Japan and Europe.

According to MFIC, remittances to Smart Money account may be received through the various encashment channels of Smart Money which includes Smart Wireless Centers, ATMs, and Smart Money Centers and agents all over the Philippines.

MFIC president and CEO Atsumasa Tochisako said ARIAS has advantage in its adaptability to various interfaces, making it easy for us to partner with a company like Smart whose role is increasingly important in the payment sector.

“It is our commitment to expand the delivery of affordable and secure money transfer services in a wider geographic area, and mobile phone will play the key role to make it happen,” Tochisako said. Source

Remittances, Migration and Other Panaceas: The End of Outward-Looking Development Strategies

In a 1965 essay, the great development economist Albert Hirschman bemoaned the tendency of those in his profession to look for the next panacea. Unfortunately, various panaceas have come in and out of fashion since Hirschman wrote.

During three decades of neo-liberalism, development economists and policymakers have celebrated three inter-related strategies: (1) free markets, (2) private ownership, and (3) private international capital flows. The latter refers to several types of flows—loans by foreign banks, foreign direct investment (i.e., the purchase of more than 10% of the assets of a foreign corporation), portfolio investment (i.e., the purchase of foreign financial assets, such as stocks or bonds), and worker remittances (i.e., the funds that migrant workers send home generally to their families, but sometimes also send collectively through "home town associations" to fund infrastructure projects in their towns of origin). Policy in the neo-liberal era sought to maximize all four of these financial flows. Read more

Deal of the day: money-transfer companies evolve, as remittances rebound

Don’t underestimate remittances - according to the World Bank, developing countries receive two-thirds as much money from their workers abroad as they do from foreign direct investors.

But the money-transfer industry is fragmented, and needs to adapt to new competition, regulations and technologies. So like other sectors, it’s using the aftermath of the Great Recession to consolidate. Read more

Introduction To Remittances

Each year, billions of dollars are sent by migrant workers to their home countries, with some estimates putting the total value of remittances at more than $200 billion. For some countries, remittances make up a sizable portion of GDP. How do remittances work, and what are some of the pitfalls that developing countries face when dealing with such large inflows of cash? Read more

PHILIPPINES: Remittances rise 6.9% to $9.1 billion in H1

MANILA, Philippines - Money sent home by overseas Filipinos grew 6.9% in the first half of the year to $9.1 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported Monday.

In June alone, remittances reached $1.6 billion, a year-on-year expansion of 8.3%.

Money remitted came mostly from the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, United Kingdom, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Italy. Read more

CAMBODIA: With few local jobs, more Cambodians focused on migration

Phnom Penh ­ Cambodians have changed their approach to labour migration, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM). These days an increasing number are using it as a way to improve their livelihoods rather than as a short-term coping strategy.

The IOM says this finding, contained in a new report, means the clock is ticking for Phnom Penh to change its current view of migration as a convenient way to absorb the 300,000 people a year entering the stagnant local job market. Read more

PHILIPPINES: BSP eases FX policy restrictions; banks may engage in ‘constructive remittances’

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has further liberalized foreign exchange (FX) policy restrictions by allowing banks to engage in so-called “constructive remittances” to encourage more outward investments.

Based on documents, the BSP’s policy-making body the Monetary Board issued Circular No. 692 relaxing the approval conditions for banks wanting to establish or acquire subsidiaries or affiliates abroad. BSP Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. signed the documents, which allowed dividends to be reinvested with foreign correspondent banks based overseas. Read more

MFI Enters Into Strategic Partnership With Banco Industrial

Microfinance International (MFI) has entered a strategic partnership with Banco Industrial, a Guatemala-based commercial bank, to jointly serve transnational families in Guatemala.

According to MFI, the partnership will encompass a range of services to meet diverse financial needs of transnational families comprising remittance senders in the US and recipients in Guatemala.

The two parties will first build a remittance platform connecting Banco Industrial and ARIAS, MFI’s money transfer solution. Banco Industrial will pay out remittances sent through ARIAS that are originated by US depository institutions that use FEDGlobal, Federa Reserve Banks’ cross-border payment service. Originators also include Alante Financial, MFI’s wholly owned retail financial service centers targeted to immigrants.

Atsumasa Tochisako, president and CEO of MFI, said: “It is a great pleasure to partner with Banco Industrial, a reputable and trusted institution among the people in Central America. We hope that this partnership will enable us to extend more value-added services not only in Guatemala, but also in other Central American countries in near future, particularly to Hondurans and Salvadorans together with Banco Industrial.”

Since May 2010, MFI and Banco Industrial have offered transnational mortgage loan, which enables Guatemalans living in the US to finance their purchase of home in Guatemala. Source

Kyrgyz, Tajik migrant worker remittances rise

BISHKEK – Migrant worker remittances, a crucial source of income for Central Asia, have grown in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan compared to last year, EurasiaNet reported August 3.

Remittances to Kyrgyzstan (at US $398.5m) were 32.6% higher in the first half of 2010 than during the same period in 2009, according to data published by the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan in a spreadsheet.

Remittances to Tajikistan during the first four months of 2010 rose 24% compared to the same period in 2009, UN Development Programme economist Ben Slay wrote. Source

Kenyans increase remittances from diaspora

Remittances from Kenyans working abroad rose 15 per cent to $52 million (Sh4.1 billion) in June compared to the same month last year, boosting the shilling and domestic demand in an economy that is witnessing sluggish retail numbers.

Kenyans sent a total of $300.2 million (Sh24 billion) in the six months to June from $291.8 million (Sh23.3 billion) in the same period a year earlier, says Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

“Remittances through June continue to track the long run average of $50 million per month,” Charles Gitari Koori, Central Bank of Kenya’s director of research, said in a monthly report. Read more

Mexico group brings help, discouragement to migrants to US

NOGALES, Mexico—A letter written by a migrant before he died in the desert is one tool used by a Mexican group which tries to persuade its compatriots to think twice about crossing the border into Arizona.

"My name is Arturo Gomez. The people trafficker tricked us. He said he knew a lot but it wasn't true. There were 14 of us, we can't all endure this. Goodbye," read the crumpled letter found eight years ago near 14 bodies in the scorching desert between Arizona, in the United States, and the Mexican state of Sonora.

The Beta Group also informs migrants of their rights and rescues wounded and lost people on the vast 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) US-Mexico border. Read more