Currently, the majority of remittance flows globally are via cash-to-cash transfers.
"It's cheaper for us to process," said Angeline Depauw, director of remittance processing for Verizon, about online bill paying.
That is less than 3percentt of the 40 million of remittance transactions to Mexico each year.
This has led to big jumps in some numbers: Nigeria posted a near-doubling of remittance receipts in 2007.
The bigger debates around the political economy of remittance or regulatory mechanisms etc, need to be grounded so that they address the causes and consequences of poverty.
A report from the Overseas Development Institute (pdf), published in April, said the benefits of remittance transfers "are lost in intermediation as a result of high charges.
The market for digital money transfer globally is valued at an estimated $5 trillion to $10tn, according to data from Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of remittance service TransferWise.
New sorts of remittance firms are allowing people to send money to relatives back home using pipelines that bypass banks and other traditional intermediaries, helping to bring down the hefty fees charged on such transfers.
It's no coincidence that three of the countries TransferWise recently began operating in – India, Nigeria, and the Philippines – have three of the highest levels of remittance flows in the world, according to World Bank data.
"Closer scrutiny of remittance regulations and travel permits will help to ensure the Castro regime does not plunder the Cuban-American exile community's hard work and contributions to their family members suffering in the island," she said.
The selection equation explores the determinants of remittance amounts.
