A Note on Money Transfer Services to India

With globalization, we have witnessed increasing interdependence among countries in the social, economic and political spheres. Today, countries experience a greater flow and exchange of people, goods, services and information across their boundaries. Educated professionals, students, skilled workers and unskilled workers from developing countries migrate to developed nations in a quest for better opportunities for income generation, higher education and a better standard of living. The United Nations estimated that in 2000, around 175 million people, i.e. approximately three percent of the global population, lived and worked outside the country of their birth. This was an increase of 45%, over the 120 million migrants estimated in 1990.

Formal systems comprise of the regular banking channels: checks, drafts, and wire transfers; and non-banking institutional channels like Western Union or MoneyGram, which specialize in money transfer services. Advances in information and communications technology have fuelled the growth of the global cashless economy. The Internet makes it possible to send money and information through electronic communication channels. Many online payment websites have emerged as another option to transfer money. Informal Money Transfer Systems (IMTS) are defined as systems, mechanisms, or networks of people, other than the formal banking system, that enable transfer of money across different geographical locations...