Card-Based Remittances

Payment News reports on a paper (PDF) which outlines the promise of card based remittances:

The robust and increasing demand for person-to-person cross-border remittance services coincides with the increasing dominance of electronic transactions and the rise of prepaid cards.These two activities, though independent of one another, share important characteristics and opportunities. Remitters are more likely to have limited financial access because of their immigrant status. Prepaid cards are increasingly seen as a tool to provide the un- and underbanked with broader access, and many providers are marketing their products specifically to immigrants...though significant gaps exist between the demand side and supply side of cardbased
remittance solutions, there is potential to capitalize on a product set that offers value for underbanked remitters given the right product design. Rather than simply putting card products to market, companies that carefully consider the entire financial picture of remittance senders can begin to develop the marketing, distribution, consumer education and pricing models needed to allow card-based transfers to compete with traditional money transfer companies and other options, such as mobile and Internet remittances.