Remittance is a term used to describe funds sent internationally. A remittance is a transfer of money by a migrant worker or a citizen with family ties abroad for family income in their home country. For example, when a migrant worker in the United States sends money to family or friends back home, he money transfer.
Many citizens or residents of low- and middle-income countries rely heavily on remittances. In some countries, remittances account for a significant percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).
Although countries with smaller economies are not the largest recipients of remittance inflows, the impact of remittances on GDP in these smaller countries is higher than in countries with larger remittances but with larger GDPs. In 2021, India was the number one recipient of remittances, accounting for 12% of global remittances, with remittances totaling approximately $87 billion. And India’s high remittances are about 3% of GDP; whereas, the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga received approximately $220 million in remittances in 2021; Tonga’s total remittances accounted for more than 40% of GDP for 2021.
According to a World Bank press release, in 2022, despite economic uncertainties, global remittances increased by approximately 5% to reach $626 billion.
Disadvantages of Current Cross-Border Payment Systems
Senders and recipients of remittances rely on cross-border payment networks to carry out transactions. Current international money transfer systems suffer from slow transaction completion, jurisdiction-based restrictions, transaction limits, high transaction processing fees, lack of certain money transfer companies in some regions, and other shortcomings.
Average time required to process cross-border payments Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) network – the global network used by banks for international settlements – is approximately one to four days; Depending on other factors, it may take longer to complete a transaction via SWIFT.
Traditional remittance companies like Wise, Payoneer and Remitly are outwardly a bit faster, but behind the scenes they still rely on international banks’ systems or remittance software providers (RSPs) to balance and effect their accounts internally. off the platform transfers. These money transfer companies are not fully operational in some jurisdictions; this limits the services offered to residents in those jurisdictions. One of the problems that customers face is the limit on the amount that a customer can transfer. Some money transfer companies even set limits on the amount a customer can receive. For example, Payoneer has an overall minimum limit of USD 50 for local currency withdrawals. In low-income countries, a $50 withdrawal limit would be extremely inconvenient.
Bitcoin, the game changer of cross-border payments
Bitcoin has all the qualities that existing cross-border payment systems lack. Bitcoin is peer-to-peer (p2p) while banks and money transfer companies act as intermediaries between the sender and receiver of the money transfer. Bitcoin is invalid.
Transaction restrictions that exist in existing payment systems do not exist in Bitcoin. There is no limit to the value that can be exchanged through Bitcoin. The buyer can buy fractions of Bitcoin (satoshi) only cost a few dollars and transfer the same amount as long as it covers the network fees, which are usually several. satoshi.
Banks usually do not operate on weekends or holidays. Money transfer companies rely mainly on banking systems for processing off the platform transactions, note transactions that start on weekends or holidays ‘waiting,’ until the work week resumes. However, Bitcoin is available around the clock. The blockchain network does not take days off. This is useful for money transfers. In an emergency, such as when an expat needs to send money back home quickly over the weekend, they won’t return it. “At the weekend, we are closed” the politics of traditional financial platforms.
Bitcoin transactions are now instantaneous thanks to the Lightning Network, a scalable solution to make Bitcoin transactions the fastest possible end-to-end. Delays in overseas payment processing are completely eliminated by Bitcoin.
With the emergence and gradual popularity of Bitcoin ATMs, remittance acceptors will have access to ready-made fiat gateways where remittances received in BTC are converted to fiat and withdrawn at any time of the day, week or year. This completely eliminates the need for remittance recipients to fill out documents and visit currency exchanges (bureau de change)or perform over-the-counter (OTC) transactions before exchanging remittances for local currency.
The practical use of bitcoin as a means of efficiently sending and receiving money between nations and continents is not just rhetoric. A practical and recent example is the adoption of cryptocurrencies by the Ukrainian government after the Russian invasion. Banking and financial systems were shut down as Ukraine’s major cities were bombed. The government focused on the ever-present and ubiquitous Bitcoin. Only after the occupation and bank closures, Ukrainian government officials posted cryptocurrency addresses on their official social media accounts. Just four days after the occupation began, supporters around the world sent more than $10.2 million. We launched a crypto fundraising campaign in just four days. Unchain Ukraine, a global crypto-native fundraising campaign raised $1.8 million in global crypto donations for Ukraine. Just one month after the war, more than $100 million in cryptocurrency was raised. As a result of the war and the subsequent closure of the country’s banking system, remittances to Ukraine increased by a large margin; a large part of money transfers are carried out using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Earlier this year, Coinbase partnered with Remitly to launch an initiative that allows its US-based customers to send crypto money transfers to beneficiaries in Mexico. The buyer can easily convert cryptocurrency into cash and withdraw it from over 20,000 locations in Mexico.
Takeaway
Bitcoin is available everywhere. Bitcoin does not discriminate. It does not limit the services available to people in certain jurisdictions. It is available and accessible in all jurisdictions on the planet with Internet access. The place of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies aimed at efficient cross-border payment solutions in the billion-dollar remittance market is undisputed.
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