Congress Boosts Remittance Transparency in Reform Bill

Price Disclosures Will Help Immigrants Save Money, Support Families

WASHINGTON, July 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The financial reform bill, which cleared a final hurdle yesterday in the Senate and now awaits President Obama's signature, includes long-needed remittance transparency standards that will help ensure the safe and affordable transfer of money from immigrant workers to their families abroad.

Those provisions, which reflect many recommendations generated by Appleseed during years of research and advocacy, require remittance providers to disclose vital service information prior to a transaction. Among the details to be provided in a written pre-transaction notice are the amount of currency that will be received by the designated recipient, the amount of transfer, any fees charged by the remittance provider for the transfer, and the exchange rate to be used in the transfer.

"Appleseed has worked for years to attain federal support for remittance transparency," said Annette LoVoi, director of Appleseed's Financial Access and Asset Building Program. "Now we can focus on helping consumers and the industry implement the new standards. The benefits of improved remittance transparency will be felt around the world."

The bill also requires remittance providers to distribute receipts showing the amount of money to be received, the promised date of delivery to the designated recipient, identifying information about the recipient, and a statement containing the senders' rights regarding error resolution.

Further, the bill requires disclosure of contact information for the remittance provider and the state and federal government regulators for complaints. The disclosures will be available in the foreign languages most commonly used by remittance customers.

Remittance flows from United States, which reached an estimated $47 billion in 2008, play integral roles in both poverty alleviation abroad and asset building here in the U.S. Because about 80 percent of remitters earn less than $30,000 per year, even small savings are vital to both sides of a remittance transaction, and up-front disclosures will not only allow for comparison shopping, but likely drive down costs through increased competition.

As a nearly decade-long advocate for increased transparency in the remittance market, Appleseed applauds the efforts of lawmakers to help transform our carefully crafted proposals into action and extends special gratitude to Senator Daniel Akaka and House committee chairmen Barney Frank and Luis Gutierrez and their staffs for their efforts. To view Appleseed's full body of work on international remittances, including our Fair Exchange pilot program and Congressional testimony, visit www.appleseednetwork.org. 

**The positions of Appleseed's National Office are not necessarily endorsed by its affiliate Centers.

SOURCE Appleseed