RemitOne

Spain, Chile, and Uruguay have joined the UN's electronic money transfer service.  The system was originally developed by the UN's postal service United Nations Universal Postal Union (UPU) which was developed with the intention of it being adopted by national postal services around the world.

The service will be available in 2,300 post offices in Spain, 110 in Chile and 60 in Uruguay, giving cheap and local access to money transfer services in these countries.

It is estimated that there are 4.5 million immigrants, 1.5 million of which are from Latin American living in Spain sending approximately $10 billion of remittance back to their home countries.

For the UN press release see here.

Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) have announced the opening of two new branches in Tema, Greater Accra, and Sampa in Brong Ahafo.  This brings their branches to a total of 141 across the country.

The GCB spokesperson said that their hope is to bring GCB banking services to all areas of Ghana, and the opening of these new branches will help them in achieving this aim.

GCB currently have the largest network of banks in Ghana.

The new branches are connected to the GCB wide area network so they offer all services including GCB Xpress Money Transfer for internal transfers, GCB Fast International Money Transfer, and GCB Moneygram Remittances.

Com2U Sdn Bhd of Malaysia have launched Malaysia's first non-provider run mobile money transfer system called moneyMe.

The system works by loading money in to your virtual account via any of the 10,000 e-pay outlets around the country.  This money can then be sent to the destination by sending a SMS to a special number.  The beneficiary will then receive an SMS with a unique code that can be taken to any one of 2700 Post Offices in Indonesia with Wesel Pos Instant Service to receive the money.

Future plans are to install 10,000 local cash-points to augment the Post Office networ

Com2U estimate that annual money transfer from Malaysia to Indonesia is around US$1 billion.  Com2U hope to take over a significant portion of that by the end of 2009.

The state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines have signed a deal with iRemit to provide remittance services via debit cards.

The system will allow ex-pat Filipinos to send money back home to their families via iRemit to special accounts from which cash can be drawn at any of the countries 7,000 ATMs.

There will be no limit on how much money can be sent, and a flat fee of P5.00 per transaction will be charged.

The cash cards can also be used to make social security and savings payments.

The chairman and CEO of iRemit, Bansan Choa, said, "This agreement with Landbank will further strengthen our already established cash card services. It also brings convenience to our customers because of the bank's geographically dispersed branches particularly in the provinces and remote areas in the country."

More on this story can be found at ABS-CBN.

Western Union is doing 60% of its business in India to rural and semi-urban areas according to Anil Kapur, their Managing Director.

Last year saw an increase of 70% to these areas which has resulted in a sharp rethink of their marketing strategy.  "Catch them before they leave the country," is the new aim Mr. Akpur said.

Marketing campaigns are targetting rural railway and bus stations to catch villagers as they are leaving their homes to go and work abroad.

Recent partnerships with banks and India post has led to a huge increase in the available outlets, increasing from 3000 in 2001, to 50,000 locations currently.  Especially the availability of Western Union through post offices has meant that even the remotest areas are being served.

Ghana's Finance Minister, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, has asked banks in Ghana to come up with new and innovative products to encourage remittance in to the country.

He estimated that between 4 and 6 million Ghanaians were outside of the country, and that remittance from them had great potential for growth.

“Banks are expected to have products that will attract more remittances. Clients could be advised to invest in short and medium-term instruments such as mutual funds, stock-exchange listed securities and government treasury bills to enhance development in the country,” he said.

These comments came at the launch of the Money Gram services to be offered by Merchant Bank Ghana.

Paul Baah-Sackey, Managing Director of Merchant Bank in his own address said, “The coming on board of MoneyGram does not only enhance our menu of remittance products but increases our ability to serve Ghanaians in over 180 countries.”

More on this story can be found at Modern Ghana.

iRemit Inc, Phillipines largest non-bank money transfer company, said on Monday that it had seen an increase in remittances handled by them by 53% in the first quarter of the year.

The company said volumes increased from $158.5 million in the first quarter of 2007 to $242.9 million this year.   The largest growths were in the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and North America.

"Performance highlights in the company's strong growth include the addition of a number of significant new customers of its foreign offices and the domestic transactions such as manning agencies and shipping companies. Also during the quarter, iRemit added more pay-out centers which to date have reached more than 2,800," said iRemit president, Harris Jacildo.

Last year saw an increase of 37% over 2006, with an increase from $555.6 million to $762.3 million in 2007.

The company operates in 25 countries through partnerships, and has a network of 2,814 agencies throughout the Philippines.

For more on this story, see ABS-CBN.

The amount of money sent home by Filipino's working abroad has risen in the first quarter of 2008 by 13% to $4 billion compared to $3.5 billion last year according to figure released by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

"Remittances during the first three months of 2008 reflected the rising number of Filipino workers abroad, the shifts in skill composition as well as the growing efficiency of banks and other financial institutions as remittance channels," BSP said.

BSP also said that volumes have increased because of new partnerships between domestic banks and money transfer firms to promote faster delivery of remittances to beneficiaries.

The majority of money continues to be transfered from US, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

For more on this news story, see ABS-CBN.

The Social Investment Bank of Bangladesh has announced the signing of a partnership deal with Placid NK Corporation of the US.

The deal will allow Placid NK's customers to send remittances via the banks network of branches.

Social Investment Bank of Bangladesh currently have 24 throught Bangladesh.

For more on this story, visit All Headline News.

Al Fardan Exchange, a large remittance company in UAE have signed a deal with Xpress Money, an global money transfer company.

Al Fardan Exchange will provide transfer via Xpress Money at all their branches throughout the UAE.

Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of Xpress Money, Sudhir Kumar Shetty, said this action was part of their principal strategy to bring enhanced services in all areas of money transfer.

Shetty said, "The company has been continually identifying the best brands in the market for partnerships, and Xpress Money was the right choice in instant money transfers, as it is a popular brand with increasing acceptance among customers in UAE. This relationship should increase the business volumes and help bring new customers to the exchange."

Shetty also said that they are continuing to sign agreements with key players in the remittance market.  He also said that the agreement with Al Fardan would take them a long way to achieving their goals.