FIELD Brief 5: Integrating Remittance Recipients into the Financial Sector

In recent years, the number of formal financial institutions distributing remittances has increased significantly. Yet, the vast majority of remittance flows and recipients remain outside of the financial sector as recipients use remittance windows in financial institutions but do not open formal accounts. Realizing that simply getting remittance recipients into the doors of financial institutions is not enough, donors, development practitioners, and financial institutions are taking a second look at what it takes to integrate unbanked recipients into the formal financial sector and to capture this significant potential market segment.

World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and the Guatemalan National Credit Union Federation (FENACOAC) have been working together to develop solutions to this challenge. The purpose of this FIELD Brief is to share lessons learned from a pilot that ran from 2006 to 2008 with support from USAID through an AED FIELD Innovation Pilot. The activity aimed to link remittance recipients to formal savings accounts and, from there, to other financial services.