New firms are expected to entry in the remittance industry with new technologies, especially for mobile phones.
According to Luis Felipe Rodriguez, vice president and general manager of Western Union in Mexico, the slowdown in the U.S. economy has led to a slower pace of job creation, which along with more efficient border controls and even more restrictive laws in some states such as Arizona, has caused an unprecedented decline of migration to that country. "Regulation in the United States is changing the dynamics in the business of remittance companies," he says.
From the month of September recipients of remittances in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador will be able to receive them on their mobile phones.
By using a its cellular network platform, the Guatemalan company Tigo Money, a subsidiary of Tigo, will offer international services for money receipts.
Since early 2011, Tigo Money has been in the remittance business nationally in Guatemala.
Tigo announced yesterday that it will increase the number of Tigo Money agencies in Guatemala from 1400 to 2000, in order to reach populations without banking facilities in rural areas.
Tigo Money started as a remittance service that allows cost-effective money transfers to Tigo users in Guatemala, and it is now making preparations so that these agencies, which are installed in convenience stores, drugstores and gas stations in local communities, can also to pay microcredit.