Chile, 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. 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 (see “UPU News Centre” item, 12 December 2007, www.upu.int).
The project is also part of the Regional Development Plan developed between the UPU and the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal, which is working to bring similar services to other countries in the region. Since 2005, to help postal operators progressively move towards providing money transfer services by electronic means, the
UPU has been making its electronic network more secure and reliable. It has begun putting in place a centralized clearing system, while pinpointing key migratory movements. Using its IFS application, it has opened 150 corridors connecting 36 countries.
Some 60 other countries are currently testing the application, in order to be able to join the UPU’s international financial network. The UPU has adopted a regional approach to bring member countries’ designated postal operators into its international financial network. Last Friday in Geneva, where the UPU’s member countries are meeting for the 24th Universal Postal Congress, the postal leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen signed an agreement to work together to facilitate electronic money transfers among themselves. Other regional projects have also been developed for Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
The number of payment orders currently going through the UPU’s international financial network is more than 6 pct higher compared with the same time last year, and the total amount of transactions has grown by 46 pct. When Congress closes on 12 August, UPU member countries are expected to adopt a new international treaty relating to payment services delivered through the post. The improved document will clearly define the UPU’s postal payment services, while taking into account the principles of technological neutrality (enabling the interconnection of networks and systems), data confidentiality, the fight against money laundering, the secure handling and transmission of payment orders, consumer protection and the reliability of payments among operators.
