<incom> An Interesting Development: Remittances Via Cellphone

[Pat Hall]

One of the case studies in the article "mobile phones and  
development" in id21 insights 69 September 2007 (www.id21.org) is  
about 'm-banking', written by Jonathan Donner of Microsoft Research  
India.  Worth a read to show just how widespread this is, with  
services also in Asia and Africa.

And about time, the transaction costs of remittances are just too  
high by conventional routes.  Good to see that Western Union is  
involved in this Hispanic venture, they are one the service providers  
that comes in for some critical comment here in Nepal,

Pat


On 01-Apr-08, at 9:54 PM, Michael Gurstein 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.
>
> _______________________________________________
> incom-l mailing list
> incom-l at incommunicado.info
> http://mail.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/incom-l