Barclays loses High Court battle on remittance closures
The UK High Court has ruled against Barclays in a case brought by remittance provider Dahabshiil, granting an injunction preventing the bank from closing Dahabshiil’s account.
The UK High Court has ruled against Barclays in a case brought by remittance provider Dahabshiil, granting an injunction preventing the bank from closing Dahabshiil’s account.
Western Union has launched a mobile money service in Nigeria, which it says will help boost financial inclusion and provide new methods of money transfer for people sending and receiving money to Africa.
At a passionate debate in Westminster this week MPs, led by Rushanara Ali, member for Bethnal Green & Bow, called for government action in the wake of Barclay’s recent decision to close accounts for a large number of small payments businesses in the remittances sector.
As the value of global cross-border payments such as workers’ remittances increases, billions of dollars are being lost to inefficient legacy systems – but that could be about to change, according to Hank Uberoi, executive director at Earthport.
The $400 billion global remittances market is moving from cash to account-based transfer, but costs, regulations and new competitors are still the key issues.
Banks can breathe a sigh of relief following the publication of amendments to US Dodd-Frank Rule 1073 today, which should allay fears that draconian regulation was about to stifle cross-border payments.
The remit of the World Bank and the Gates Foundation is to focus on flows of money to developing economies, so much of the publicity is about those and as a result, much of what we understand about remittances is about those markets. And they are not to be underestimated.