Those provisions require remittance providers to disclose vital service information prior to a transaction. Among the details to be provided in a written pre-transaction notice are the amount of currency that will be received by the designated recipient, the amount of transfer, any fees charged by the remittance provider for the transfer, and the exchange rate to be used in the transfer.
The bill also requires remittance providers to distribute receipts showing the amount of money to be received, the promised date of delivery to the designated recipient, identifying information about the recipient, and a statement containing the senders' rights regarding error resolution.
Further, the bill requires disclosure of contact information for the remittance provider and the state and federal government regulators for complaints. The disclosures will be available in the foreign languages most commonly used by remittance customers.
Remittance flows from United States, which reached an estimated $47 billion in 2008, play integral roles in both poverty alleviation abroad and asset building in the US. Because about 80 percent of remitters earn less than $30,000 per year, even small savings are vital to both sides of a remittance transaction, and up-front disclosures will not only allow for comparison shopping, but likely drive down costs through increased competition.
