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Fintech

Fintech

Remittances remain a major, if not the largest, source of foreign revenue for Mexico. In 2016, the dollar volume for remittances to Mexico jumped 8.8% over the prior year and reached an all-time high of nearly $27 billion — about 95% of those remittances came from the U.S. The U.S.-Mexico corridor is one of the largest remittance sectors in the world, and four key influences are helping to further fuel its significant growth.

BBVA’s new app-based service for remittances, Tuyyo, recently launched, focusing initially on the important U.S. to Mexico corridor, with an eye toward expanding service into other countries soon.

According to BBVA Research’s Yearbook of Migration and Remittances, that’s a good strategy as remittances, or the money sent by migrants to their home country, flows to and from many countries around the world, Mexico being just one, and not even the largest receiver among them.

What sort of a future awaits the banking sector? This morning, BBVA Executive Director José Manuel González-Páramo gave a 360-degree view of that future, during a speech at the opening of the academic year at the Fundación Sant Elmo in Seville. Banks, he said, face two possible scenarios: one in which they remain static, and which will cause them to disappear; or a transformative scenario, which implies a complete reinvention of the sector.

According to recently released BBVA Research data, people around the globe could send their loved ones up to $606 billion in remittances in 2017, which made us wonder. What are the elements that impact remittances when they are sent?

According to the Global Head of Tuyyo Ignacio de Loyola Gil Puértolas, remittance senders should be aware of two main elements: exchange rates and transaction fees. Exchange rates are the amount of foreign currency received for each dollar sent. Fees are the amount the sender pays to the service provider for transferring the funds.

BBVA has been in Las Vegas this week, taking part in one of the world’s biggest fintech events, Money 20/20. The scale of the conference is huge - more than 11,000 delegates, including 1,700 CEOs and Presidents, from 4,500 companies and more than 85 countries around the world. BBVA’s CEO, Carlos Torres Vila and its Head of Customer and Client Solutions, Derek White, both attended, alongside several other senior leaders.

Last week BBVA announced that AI-based personal money manager startup Change had won its Open Talent Global award for best fintech idea. Change, an Israeli outfit that works in the U.S. and Canada, uses artificial intelligence to help customers keep track of their money, giving them a nudge via an SMS when they are overspending.