Remittance Costs
Can Facebook Help Reduce the Cost of Remittances?
by Felix Richter,
Jun 20, 2019
Financial market in Africa
Having successfully connected large parts of the world through its social media and messaging platforms, Facebook is now taking on a new project: creating a “more inclusive global financial system”. The world’s largest social media company introduced a new cryptocurrency named Libra this week, which will be run by the Libra Association, an independent, non-profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, whose founding members include companies such as Mastercard, Visa, eBay, Uber, Spotify, Vodafone and, of course, Facebook itself, among others.
“Libra’s mission is to enable a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people”, the currency’s mission statement reads, adding that despite all progress made in connectivity and access to information and services, “1.7 billion adults globally remain outside of the financial system with no access to a traditional bank” and that “access to financial services is limited or restricted for those who need it most — those impacted by cost, reliability, and the ability to seamlessly send money”.
One of the most important areas that could be impacted by Libra is remittances, i.e. money transfers by m
John Kiff on 21 Jun 19Individual Libra-holders face risks. One is currency fluctuations. If, say, the yen rises against the basket to which Libra is pegged, Japanese holders of Libra will lose out. The new currency will not yield interest (though neither do many bank deposits nowadays).
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