Remittances - United States to Latin America

According to a study conducted in October 2006 by Monetary Investment Fund/Fondo Multilateral de Inversiones (MIF/FOMIN) reveals some interesting dynamics of the U.S. to Latin America remittance market.

[The MIF/FOMIN] study indicates that 12.6 million Latin American immigrants living in the United States will send about $45 billion to their families in 2006.

• The percentage of immigrants sending money on a regular basis to their relatives has increased from 61 percent in 2004 to 73 percent in 2006.
• The average amount of each remittance sent from the U.S. has increased from $240 in2004 to $300 in 2006.
• The percentage of immigrants that use a bank or credit union to send remittances has increased from 8 percent in 2004 to 19 percent in 2006.

The size of this market cannot be ignored.

The large numbers of transactions and funds indicated in this survey allow participating firms to vastly increase the standard of living in recipient countries by leveraging existing trends without having to further access funds from overburdened governmental and non-governmental (NGO) organizations.

IPM is positioned to enable companies to participate and benefit from this market while benefiting remittance senders and receivers.

Migration Phenomenon Beyond the United States

There are immigration trends throughout the Americas beyond the immigration of Mexicans to the United States.

According to a study* conducted by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), "there are now significant communities of Bolivian migrants in Argentina, Nicaraguan migrants in Costa Rica, Guatemalans in Mexico, Peruvians in Chile, and Haitians in the Dominican Republic."

The MIF was formed to fund projects that stimulate the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean. There are numerous transactional opportunities beyond the United States/Mexico market.

*study titled Sending Money Home; Remittances as a Development Tool in Latin America and the Caribbean