The plan of López Obrador to eliminate commissions for the sending of funds

Money that Mexican workers send from abroad to Mexico – mainly from the United States – added nearly 33,480 million dollars (mdd) in 2018. A record amount that exceeds the 2017 amount when remittances rose to $ 28,771 million.

The figure from last year puts remittances as main source of foreign currency for Mexico, above the sale of oilwhich represents an income of $ 30.572 million.

This is the weight of remittances for the national economy. However, Mexican migrant workers must pay high commissions to the banks for the transfers they make from abroad.

For this reason, on 1 February, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that Bansefi – a development bank turned into a Bank of Welfare – will be used to send money from abroad, and not just for the dispersal of social program resources.

The measure would undoubtedly affect the commercial banking market, agencies and service shops that charge a commission for sending money because transfers account for 98.7% of total remittances.

Rabindranath Salazar, head of the Welfare Bank (or Bansefi), explained thatThe intention is precisely to put an end to the abuses that migrant workers suffer when sending money to their families in Mexico.

"What we are looking for is that Bansefi cards can also be used abroad and we already have a plan with the Foreign Ministry and the Institute of Mexicans abroad to support our compatriots, "the official told the newspaper. Reform.

Salazar insisted that fees charged by private financial institutions are excessive. Therefore, the federal government wants to "generate a plan to help compatriots put an end to the issue of commissions and abuses".

The measure would favor relatives of migrants, since 86.4% of remittances are used for the maintenance of at least 1.4 million Mexican families who use these resources for their basic consumption.

At the same time, the Welfare Bank will extend its coverage in the country, To the 430 agencies currently in operation will add 200 in municipalities without financial services.

The intention, according to Salazar, is reach 7,000 points of attention with the help of infrastructure financial institutions such as Banco Azteca, Banorte and Banjército.