Account Closures of Money Transfer Operators by Australian Banks– Instability and Injustice in the Pacific

The remittance industry provides international money transfer services for migrant workers and individuals looking to send relatively small amounts of money overseas. Money transfer operators (‘MTOs’) facilitate these international payments and offer services to a segment of the market that is often unserved by banks. An alarming trend is developing in Australia of banks closing the accounts of MTOs. A potential explanation for this trend is the increased cost of regulation and perceived risk to the banks from facilitating these transactions. These account closures create real problems for the remittance industry, Australia and the Asia Pacific region.

Originally Published: 
01/08/2014