BoNY Mellon launches global remittance platform

BoNY Mellon’s move follows Citi’s initiative of launching a global remittance system previously supplied by money transfer outfit PayQuik, which the US bank acquired in January.BoNY Mellon penetrated the remittance environment several years ago with an offering designed for non-US client banks that are interested in receiving remittances from customers who had moved to the US and wanted to remit funds back home. The new Remit Worldwide is an extension of the initial service, aiming to enable customers of client US banks to remit funds directly to beneficiaries overseas.BoNY Mellon says the new platform enables client banks to cash in on the growing remittance market while avoiding the costs and complexities involved in developing a global remittance infrastructure.Largely because of technology and infrastructure constraints, US retail banks currently handle only a small percentage of global remittances, explains Al Briand, MD and head of product management and business strategy at BoNY Mellons treasury services group. Remit Worldwide unlocks the global remittance door, allowing client banks in the US to capture a bigger share of this growing market without incurring undue technology risk or development expense.BoNY Mellon and Citi are among the financial institutions that tried to make a gain from the opportunities brought by the remittance system. A number of firms, including Visa, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and HSBC, have entered the Latin American money transfer business by launching services addressed for the Hispanic community in the US.At the same time, on a different level, money transfer operator Western Union and MasterCard are developing separate projects with international trade group of mobile phone operators GSMA to draw the commercial and technical specifications for global mobile remittance services.