Financial Reform Law Boosts Remittance Transparency

Jennifer L. Manning, July 22, 2010

The financial reform bill President Obama recently signed into law includes remittance transparency standards that will aid in guaranteeing the secure and affordable transfer of billions of dollars each year from immigrant employees to their families abroad.

The law now requires remittance providers to disclose essential service information before a transaction. In the written pre-transaction notice, providers must include the amount of money to be received by the selected recipient, any fees charged by the provider, and the exchange rate to be applied.

As required by the law, post-transaction receipts distributed by remittance providers must show the amount of money to be received, the promised delivery date to the intended recipient, distinguishing information about the recipient, and a statement including the senders' rights concerning error resolution.

Additionally, contact information must be divulged for remittance providers and the state and federal government regulators for grievances.

US remittance flows in 2008 reached an estimated $47 billion. These play vital roles in poverty mitigation abroad and asset building in the US. Thus, as the director of Appleseed's Financial Access and Asset Building Program states, "the benefits of improved remittance transparency will be felt worldwide."

For more information, please see: Financial Reform Law Boosts Remittance Transparency (July 21, 2010, PRNewswire-USNewswire)

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