Brazil Post president to address World Mail & Express Americas 2013
The organisers of the annual World Mail & Express Americas conference today announced a packed line-up for next year’s event, to be held in February.
Read MoreTag: Chile Post
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Read MoreChile, Spain and Uruguay launch new electronic money transfer service through postal network
Chile, Spain and Uruguay launched a new electronic money transfer service linking their countries, bringing Latin America into the fold of the Universal Postal Union’s international financial network.
People in all three countries will now be able to use the postal network to send and receive money to and from abroad. The service is currently offered in 110 post offices in Chile, in 2,300 in Spain and in 60 in Uruguay. The service is fast and secure; money transfers can be executed and delivered in 15 minutes.
The service relies on the International Financial System (IFS) application developed by the UPU’s Postal Technology Centre. IFS is the backbone of the UN specialized agency’s international financial network. The launch of the new service between Spain and Latin America is part of the UPU’s global efforts to modernize the obsolete paper postal money order and respond to some of the challenges posed by the phenomenon of international migration, including better access for migrant workers to secure remittance services through formal channels, such as the 660,000 or more post offices around the world.
According to World Bank data, more than 220 million migrant workers send over 300 billion dollars annually through formal channels. But officials believe that just as many remittances are being sent through informal channels, promoting money laundering and financing terrorist-related activities. Spain is home to 4.5 million immigrants, 1.6 million of them from Latin America. In 2006, these immigrants sent in excess of 6.25 billion euros to their families in their countries of origin, according to the Bank of Spain. By joining the UPU’s international financial network, Spain will be better able to meet the needs of this Latin American population, and there is now the potential for opening exchanges with countries in North Africa.
The new service is being launched following an agreement signed last December between Spain and the UPU.
Read MoreSpain and the UPU undertake to develop postal financial services in Latin America
Magdalena Alvarez Arza, the Spanish minister responsible for the postal sector, and Edouard Dayan, Director General of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), signed an agreement in Madrid yesterday whereby Spain and the UPU undertook to implement the International Financial Transfer System (IFS). Under this agreement, Spain, through the postal operator Correos, will connect Latin America with the UPU’s electronic financial network, thereby improving the quality of postal services and providing small and medium-sized businesses with access to postal markets.
In addition to the strategic benefits of this agreement, which formalizes Spain’s support for the UPU’s worldwide electronic fund transfer network, the Spanish government will help migrant workers based in Spain to keep in contact with their countries of origin and to transfer part of their savings to their families in a secure and affordable manner.
Spain is currently the leading issuer of remittances sent from the European Union to Latin America. According to a study conducted by the Bank of Spain, in 2006, the 4.5 million immigrants residing in Spain sent over 6.25 billion EUR to their families back home. Spain’s participation in the IFS network will also open up new opportunities with the Maghreb countries.
As part the regional development plan created by the UPU and the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (PUASP), a pilot project between Spain, Chile and Uruguay will be launched shortly, based on the action plan approved by all parties. This agreement will also mark the beginning of a new phase of closer cooperation between the teams of Correos, the UPU, PUASP and the Latin American Posts, which will together provide the technical expertise needed to establish these financial flows.
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