The Indian ICICI Bank offers hybrid solutions with remittance kiosks and ATMs in migrant areas and dormitories. Kiosks in Singapore and Bahrain can be used to transfer funds to India on the same day. ICICI sees mobile banking as a powerful medium for further financial inclusion.
The provision of basic skills to manage finances can have a considerable impact on the choice of modes of remittance transfers, expenditure preferences, savings behaviour and options for converting remittances into assets.
In 2016 IFAD launched its 6th Global Call for Proposals: Scaling Up Remittances (SURE) aiming at financing innovative models to increase economic opportunities for the rural poor by leveraging the impact of remittances and diaspora investment for rural development.
Remittance price comparison websites can increase market transparency and encourage greater competition. Examples include Saver Asia and SendMoneyPacific.
The Bangladesh Bank, national commercial banks, and public commercial banks have created a number of investment products aimed specifically at migrants and their families. These products include bonds, deposit pension schemes (DPS), fixed deposits, savings accounts, investment loans, and investments in capital markets through, for instance, the Non-Resident Investor’s Taka Account (NITA).
The Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI) was launched in 2009 by the State Bank of Pakistan, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and the Ministry of Finance for the purpose of (a) facilitating and supporting a faster, cheaper, convenient and more efficient flow of remittances, and (b) to create investment opportunities in Pakistan for overseas Pakistanis. The PRI has encouraged the financial sector to provide greater commitment to remittance services.
On the 12th of February 2016, the Diaspora Relations Bureau (BRD) of the State Chancellery of Moldova, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM Moldova) and the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), launched the Diaspora Engagement Hub – a new program of thematic grants for Moldovan citizens abroad, including diaspora associations and initiative groups.
The CTRS project is an initiative of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Tunisia. The project interventions focus on cooperation with the Tunisian Government in line with its efforts in strengthening Tunisia’s links with its diaspora and to promoting the diaspora’s engagement in Tunisia’s national and local development.
The project aims at acknowledging the competences and skills of Tunisians living in Switzerland with view to strengthening their contribution to the socio-economic development of Tunisia in four areas:
The program’s overarching strategic goal is to improve the overall market for remittances and ultimately achieve further financial inclusion, broader usage of electronic payments and the reduction of the cost of remittances while maintaining financial stability. This will allow migrants and their families a net increase of the available resources for their daily needs, savings as well as investments.
The program is executed by the World Bank’s Financial Infrastructure and Remittances Service Line, which is part of the joint WB/IFC Finance and Markets Global Practice.
The SECO Start-up Fund is a risk capital vehicle launched in 1997 by the Swiss Goverment. The Fund is fully owned by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and is an instrument of SECO’s Economic Cooperation and Development Division. The Fund is managed by FinanceContact Ltd., a Zürich-based private management company.