Esta semana un vocero de la Casa Blanca dio a conocer que a partir del ocho de noviembre se podrá ingresar al País cumpliendo las recomendaciones establecidas por los Centros de Control y Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC), de esta manera se aceptan los viajes no esenciales, dando oportunidad a la reapertura del turismo. Las medidas…
En esta edición, la conferencia de IMTC WORLD 2021 se celebrará, como cada año, en la ciudad de Miami de forma presencial y estará presente en el fabuloso Hard Rock Hotel & Casino durante cuatro días, donde se podrá disfrutar de cursos de compliance, talleres de trading, ponencias, mesas redondas y amplio espacio para el Networking entre ejecutivos del sector y compañías de todo el mundo. Proveedores de servicios de remesas (RSP), empresas de transferencias de…
Read my blog inspired by the article written in Medium by fintech author John Biggs about his life during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York which he named “Racing in the Dark”. He referenced other authors and books to remind us that, as humans, we once spent whole seasons confined, hibernating, overwintering. The article let…
The March 19 announcement by the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, has called for global solidarity in response to the coronavirus crisis. In response to this dire scenario, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), through its Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) is convening the Remittance Community Task Force to address the challenges…
“Crap!” Aamer quickly covers his mouth and apologizes for swearing. My New York ears were shocked. To be sure, Aamer Abedi, Chief Marketing Officer of RemitONE is a good guy. This transfers over to his passion for remittances and the people the money impacts. This, in particular, is true for the case with money transfer…
Industry In attempting to determine future trends in the payments industry, a good question to ask is, “What are customer expectations?”. I believe we can all agree that customers want the payments they send and receive to be realized in real-time with minimum fees. They also want the option of which payment service provider they choose to…
Nigerians can be found in most countries of the world. Nigerians are numerous in the United States and the UK, followed by South Africa, UAE and other European countries such as Italy & Spain. As a US survey showed, Nigerians in the US are one of the highest educated migration groups. Due to the ever-growing…
This article was conceived after discussing with colleagues in the industry why the payments world has been driven into the Cash vs. Digital dichotomy. My research on cash has been inspired by analyzing the penalization of cash-based industries, such as the money transfer industry by the banking sector, which has resulted in the derisking phenomenon…
Last week, May 2-5, myself, Hugo Cuevas-Mohr and Olivia Chow, from Yokip Consulting, our partner in the RemTech Awards and The Blockchain Series Coordinator, were in Manila in a round of visits with local authorities, money transfer companies, banks and associations. The main objective was to prepare the program for our coming IMTC ASIA 2018…
PART ONE: Cash: Is the payments king dying? or is the king creating its own separate kingdom? Although is not exactly clear how the payments industry will evolve in the near future, we agree that 2018 is likely to be a significant year for the financial services industry: banks, eCommerce, fintechs, payment institutions and other alternative…
In my recent visit to Chile, where I traveled to make sure the country would be the best site for our 2019 IMC LATAM conference, I was very surprised by the large number of migrants entering the country, the growing number of agents & branches of established money transfer companies such as AFEX, MORE Money…
The news [1] January 2nd didn’t come as a surprise for the industry as President Trump has criticized China for its trade and currency policies and its “America First” slogan has been the damocle’s sword hanging over the deal. We analyzed the deal in a past blog explaining the US Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) involvement in…
In a recent Press Release, the Money Services Business Association (MSBA) – the US trade association that represents the growing non-bank money services industry, announced the formation of a new Board of Directors, a new Chairman of the Board and new Board members. The MSBA named Viamericas Corporation CEO Paul Dwyer as its new Chairman, succeeding…
For IMTC WORLD in Miami this past November, I decided to present my estimates on the size of the international Money Transfer and X-Border Payments industry, coming to a figure of approximately 1,025 billion USD, based on private communications with industry players and my own analysis (INFOGRAPHIC). The estimate starts from the 600B estimated by…
Co-Chair Olivia Chow reflects on The Blockchain Series (TBS) pilot at IMTC WORLD 2017 in Miami A lot has changed since IMTC Director Hugo Cuevas-Mohr invited Roger Ver, the so-called Bitcoin Jesus, to the IMTC in Miami in 2012, just five years ago. He debated Arun Sharma professor at the University of Miami School of…
QUÉ NOS DEJÓ EL 2017 y cómo vemos a la industria en el próximo año. En un breve resumen escrito según mi perspectiva, voy a recorrer cuatro principales acontecimientos que vivimos en la Industria durante el 2017 y presentarles lo que podemos esperar para el 2018 con el fin de, en conjunto, mantener las empresas del…
On November 15th, the Financial Services Advisor, a Newsletter published by The Interamerican Dialogue, a Washington, DC think tank where well-known remittance expert Manuel Orozco is the Director of the Migration, Remittances and Development Program, has published a Q&A entitled What Is Driving Remittances to the Region? where Manuel and several colleagues – including myself, most obliged,…
We thank our colleague Carlos Grossman, for the report out of Chile where the Antimonopoly Division of the National Economic Prosecutor Office (División Antimonopolios de la Fiscalía Nacional Económica – FNE) reports the investigation that took place after an August 2015 complaint by a Forex Firm denouncing seven banks of denying the opening of a…
As you recall from the earlier blog, there are many reasons for MSBs to be cautiously optimistic: new banks are opening with a focus on various types of MSBs, regional and community-based financial institutions are gearing up to perform appropriate due diligence on potential clients, online firms who do not require branches for deposits are…
Let’s first remember. In April 15, 2017, Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Financial (Ant) agreed to purchase MoneyGram International, Inc. (MGI) for $18 per share. Ant, which is controlled by the famous Alibaba CEO Jack Ma, increased its price from $13.25 to $18 after RIA’s Euronet put in a bid for $15.20. In order for the…
Key positive developments in banking for MSBs It’s been a bleak period for money transmitters over the past several years. The specter of derisking —that business-killing policy of many banks in the US and globally—may be disappearing. At least in the US where other entities are stepping up. Our colleagues in other parts of the…
I am going to venture myself to write this article on Compliance, with the disclaimer that I am not a compliance professional and that the idea behind this is to get compliance colleagues to comment and compliance officers to pay attention. Talking last week to a fintech company about their payment processing services in Mexico,…
On Friday, September 22nd, we closed our first Africa Conference. As I mentioned to all participants, the whole process of developing the conference was, from the start, an uphill race, surmounting obstacles and convincing sceptics. But just days before the event, the pieces of the puzzle came in together and a bright and inspiring panorama…
De-risking was an acute illness for the Caribbean financial sector in 2015 and 2016. In 2017, the height of the fever has broken, but the patient is still sick. Though correspondent banks in developed countries are no longer dropping services to Caribbean banks at a rapid pace, the region’s economies remain encumbered with a residue…
Daniel Trías, consultant and specialist in foreign trade, banking, finance and family remittances, founder of DT Consulting and Member of the IMTC Advisory Board and who has accompanied the “Cono Sur” (southern cone) Associations in their meetings, their initiatives to find solutions to De-Risking, such as Creation of CIASEFIM, presents this Document entitled: “De-Risking: The…
How De-Risking is changing the face of Financial Services worldwide In July 6th & 8th the Economist published two articles that, again, raised the de-risking threat discussion to new levels. The July 6th article was entitled “The great unbanking [1] – Swingeing fines have made banks too risk-averse – It is time to rethink anti-money-laundering…
Mexican migrants in the USA are first class Mexicans. They are in general the risk-taker population, hardworking, with a different work ethic compared to the average American worker. They give a different value to their labor and the remuneration that they receive for that effort. Some are prosperous entrepreneurs too. Success stories abound throughout the…
Leon is a seasoned expert and business leader in the payments, remittances and money transfer industry. He has over 25 years hands-on experience and since 2007 has led DMA, Developing Markets Associates, a development consultancy based in the UK that provides a broad range of services that helps to mobilise funds into developing markets. Leon…
How the financial crisis, the evolution of Banking and Unbanking and the rise of technology in financial services are all connected The financial crisis and the rise of technology in financial services, that has led to an increase in the importance of NBFIs (Non-Bank Financial Institutions) in the provision of financial services, has created a…
The more I learn about money transfer comparison websites, the more I am fascinated by the results that they provide. And they are getting better and better, and they are each finding a way to present their information and develop their own character. Are they being used by end-users? Who, how? Are they been used…
