Remittances of cash between Mexicans living in the United States and their families back home in Mexico totaled $22.6 billion in 2010, yet according to research by Manuel Orozco of the Pew Hispanic Research Center, many Latin American remittance senders living in the United States do not have a bank account, with 35 percent of Ecuadorians, 64 percent of Salvadorans and 75 percent of Mexican immigrants being unbanked. Billions of dollars are being sent by immigrants in the U.S. to their families back home, yet a large percentage of these transactions have been taking place outside of the regulated financial system, often at a significant cost to the individuals sending the money.
To address this issue, the Federal Reserve Bank and the Mexican Consulate have been partnering with U.S. based financial institutions to lower the cost of sending remittances to Mexico, provide safe and affordable financial services increase the speed and safety of transactions, and reduce the number of unbanked in the U.S. and Mexico by encouraging them to work with regulated financial institution on both sides of the border.
On Saturday, November 12, Congresswoman Janice Hahn, Mexico Consul General David Figueroa Ortega, Federal Reserve Bank Director of FedGlobal ACH Payments Jorge Jimenez; and National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions West Coast Program Officer Rafael O. Morales, joined Family FCU CEO Lucia Moreno-Linares and more than 250 members of Family Federal Credit Union during the CDCU’s 29th Annual Meeting, to announce the launch of the newest collaboration, Financial Corridors to Mexico: Los Angeles to Mexico.
Congresswoman Janice Hahn, who previously served as the Los Angeles City Council representative for the credit union and was elected in a special election this past summer, praised the work of Family Federal Credit Union and the important role it plays providing affordable financial services in the community.
Most Commented