All kinds of stuff today on international remittances, captured in Paymentsnews.com.  This one from the Department for International Development in the UK.

More than a third of ethnic minority households, who responded to a UK-wide survey (2.7 mb), sent an average £870 back home to their families living in some of the poorest parts of Africa and Asia last year, according to a new report published today by the Department for International Development.

…..

Key findings

• about 38 per cent of ethnic minority households sent an average of £870 back home last year;
• …. the five largest recipients were Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Jamaica and Ghana;
• the average income of the senders was £22,000 and 70 per cent were between 25-44 years old;
• in almost 50 per cent of cases people were sending money to their parents, another 25 per cent to other close relatives like cousins and 15 per cent were sending money to spouses and children;
• 31 per cent of senders said the money would be used to buy food, 21 per cent said it would help with medical bills and 17 per cent reported the funds would help pay for schooling; and
• 80 per cent said the money would make a real difference to the lives of their relatives back home.

A typical South Asian family sent an average of over £1000 back home in 2005 but African households were not far behind with £910. Those communities sending below the £870 overall average included Black Caribbean and Chinese. The reasons for the differences are likely to be different family structures, migration and employment patterns.  

Relevance to Bankwatch:

There is a significant economy built up as a result of the global economy, and internal emigration.  Banks are largely excluded from this marketspace.  Reference the Walmart Bank strategy for the unbanked, and including remittances.  Service providers in this space, are Citigroup Global, and Moneygram.

tags: remittances, unbanked, payments