Crafting a Money Transfers Strategy: Guidance for Pro-Poor Financial Service Providers

March, 2005     Jennifer Isern, Rani Deshpande, Judith van Doorn

Formal remittances constitute the second largest source of external funding for developing countries, ahead of capital market flows and development assistance. From the viewpoint of financial service providers, transferring remittances can be a lucrative business, and smaller providers have begun to explore market segments not yet penetrated. This paper explores operational and strategic considerations involved in launching a money transfer product. Financial service providers that cater to the poor have been drawn to the money transfer market because it offers them the opportunity to fulfill their financial goals as well as their social objectives.