<incom> An Interesting Development: Remittances Via Cellphone

[partha]

Thanks Michael. Interesting to read about this 'Remittances Via Cellphone'
but more interesting is that this practice is already prevailing in
Bangladesh particularly among the migrant workers who come from the rural
areas to work in the urban areas. Following was a discussion at
BytesforAll. 
Best wishes,

Partha


http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/10492

Mobile Gram in Bangladesh [Prev: Money... and cell-phones] 


Dear FN,

Transfering small money through cell phone has already been an established
method in Bangladesh. Specially northern part of the country. 
In the northern part, the daily labour are using this method to transfer
their money from working place to their home. This method, popularly known
as "Mobile Gram" is very helpful for them.

In the northeren part of the Bangladesh, the number of daily labour are
huge and they usually moves to central part of the country for work. Before
going different district and or other part of the district they usually
make a deal with a local cell phone  operator. These operators are cell
company's authorize dealer who sale  talk time on behalf of the mobile
operator. All the operator has this charging facility. The most pouplar one
is Grameen Phone's FlexiLoad. In the case, where such operator are not
available, the person who wants to mobile gram make a deal with other cell
phobe guy who has already an arrangement with a Flexiloader. 

At the end of a day, the labour move to the cell operator in his working
place  and charge an amount to  the cell number of his area's  flexiLoader
(or any other). Then he make a call to the receipient and inform him that
he is the person who just charge 100/- taka (for example) talk-time to
recipients cell. The guy, who has been charged has already received a sms
from the cell company initimating the charge of talk time. Then the labour
request the guy to provide cash to his benificiary (Usually his family
member) the amount after deducting his service charge. The service charge
depends on the amount transfer and ranges from 5-10 taka for each
transaction.

Some of the parents now a days transfer money to his son/daughter who is
studying in the university/college in other city. The same technique  is
used. Howver, for this purpose there are another method where cell phone is
used as identification tool.

The parents  (or the transmitter)  rush to a centre (Usually  the courier
service, who also provdide money transfer)  and deposit money for his son
(the recipient).  and give them son's mobile number. Then he informed his
son to collect the money from the courier company's office in his town. The
courier compnay, in the destination district, wait for the recipient. The
recipient, while in the office, has to prove that he is the holder of the
cell which number is provided in the recipient's details.

There are some other application too. Ask me if you wants to hear more on
it.

Regards

Munir Hasan
BdOSN




On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 09:09:59 -0700, "Michael Gurstein" <gurstein at gmail.com>
wrote:
> 
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/31/AR2008033102
> 512.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
> 
> 
> Three Firms Combine on Cellphone Remittances
> 
> Who's Blogging> Links to this article
> By Cecilia Kang
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Tuesday, April 1, 2008; Page D05
> 
> Sending money back home? Just press "talk."
> 
> That's what Western Union, Radio Shack and the small wireless carrier
> Trumpet Mobile hope millions of Hispanic immigrants will do with a new
> service announced yesterday.
> 
> Though financial turmoil has put credit card, mortgage and auto markets
at
> a
> standstill, the flow of money immigrants send overseas continues to
> increase.
> 
> In 2007, $65.5 billion in remittances were sent to Latin American and
> Caribbean nations, up 7 percent from the previous year, according to the
> Inter-American Development Bank.
> 
> That, combined with the fast-growing sales of cellphones among immigrants
> in
> the United States and developing countries, has caught the attention of
> Western Union, which offers wire transfer services and in 1861 set up the
> first transcontinental telegraph line in North America.
> 
> "There are 3 billion mobile phones globally. We see mobile operators and
> an
> emerging mobile wallet as a tremendously interesting new market segment
> for
> Western Union," said Matt Dill, general manager of Western Union's mobile
> unit.
> 
> The service is aimed at Hispanic immigrants, who are more likely to have
a
> cellphone than an Internet connection through a home computer, according
> to
> Gus West, president of the Washington-based Hispanic Institute.
> 
> Under the plan, a customer could buy a Trumpet Mobile phone, which costs
> $29.99 at Radio Shack. The user can load the phone with money through
> Western Union. To send money to a relative Nicaragua, for example, a
> customer would specify the amount and the recipient over the phone. The
> money would then be debited from the customer's account and routed to a
> local agent in Nicaragua, who would dispense the money to the relative.
> 
> "A laborer in the U.S. is looking for the best, least expensive and
> fastest
> way to get money back home and that is what is generating this interest,"
> West said.
> 
> The announcement expands Western Union's cellphone money-transfer
> services,
> which are also available in the Philippines and India.
> 
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