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.
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.
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.
TawiPay (www.tawipay.com) is a pilot money transfer project that started in 2015. Its main goal is to increase transparency in remittance channels. The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) financed the establishment of the two remittance channels, Switzerland–Serbia and Switzerland–Bosnia. The project’s objective is to enable migrants/diaspora communities to reduce the cost of sending money to their home countries.
The Investment Code determines the eligible projects and the conditions of access and accreditation formalities and tax benefits, for national people, foreign people and the diaspora.
The National Strategy aims to optimize collective efforts toward financial inclusion in the Philippines. It aims to raise awareness, appreciation and understanding of financial inclusion and enable coordination among various stakeholders.
The objective of the National Strategy is aligned with the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), which envisions a regionally-responsive, development-oriented and inclusive financial system that provides for the evolving needs of adiverse Filipino public.
The goal of this project is to improve financial services, including remittance delivery capacity, of 10 selected micro- finance institutions (MFIs) targeting the rural poor and migrant worker families. The project promotes migrant’s savings and investment through community-based MFIs in the migrant workers’ home villages.
Mandiri Bank sealed an agreement with Dairy Farm Company, that manages 7-Eleven retails, to provide money transfer service for Indonesian citizens who currently work in Hong Kong. Through this cooperation, Indonesian citizens who want to send their money back home can simply use their payment card, which they can get from Mandiri Bank, in all of the 900 7-Eleven retail shops in Hong Kong.