REMITTANCES THROUGH TRANSACTION ACCOUNTS: A GATEWAY FOR FINANCIAL INCLUSION
JUNE 17, 2021
Oya Pinar Ardic Alper
Senior Financial Sector Specialist
PAYMENT SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT GROUP
FINANCE, COMPETITIVENESS AND INNOVATION
THE WORLD BANK
Why remittances?
• Remittances are costly, well in excess of global targets (G8 “5 by5” and SDG 10.c of 3%)• Remittances matter more than aid and FDI in many low- and middle- income countries. • Remittances often serve as a gateway to financial inclusion
Source: Remittance Prices Worldwide, World Bank and KNOMAD
Financial inclusion of migrants and their families
• Prerequisite: Enabling
environment
• Product design
• Access points
• Financial and digital literacy
Source: CPMI and WBG (2016). Payment Aspects of Financial Inclusion.
Digital remittances are cheaper
Source: Remittance Prices Worldwide, World Bank
Financial inclusion and cost reduction are related
Source: Remittance Prices Worldwide and Global Findex, World Bank
More digital services (relative to cash services)
Source: Remittance Prices Worldwide, World Bank
What are we doing?
Different modes of support: technical assistance and lending (project financing, budget support, grants, etc.)
Targeted financial inclusion programs
Assessments of the markets for international remittances
Improving payments infrastructure and legal and regulatory frameworks
Building a strategicapproach to retail payments including remittances
Global engagements including working with the G20 and the Standard-Setting Bodies
Project Greenback – a bottom-up approach to improve remittances markets: product design, digital and financial literacy, informed policies
Source: World Bank
Project Greenback
Tangible impact on remittance senders
and receivers
Translating policy and infrastructure
interventions in simple terms for the end
clients
Bridging information gaps in
the sector
Driving informed decision making
Promoting sector coordination
Raising awareness around remittances as an enabler of financial
inclusion and sustainable
development
Source: World Bank
THANK YOU!www.worldbank.org/paymentsystemsremittanceprices.worldbank.org
