Annual Remittances Summit-2012

Last week the International Association of Money Transfers Networks held it’s 7th Annual Summit in London. The Summit provided a clear mandate for IAMTN to continue to push forward in representing its members interests with all key stakeholders including multilateral institutions and regulators.

Veronica Studsgaard, CEO of IAMTN said: "We were delighted with the high calibre and seniority of presenters together with the amount of business that was being undertaken during the breaks. We, at IAMTN, will continue to enhance our work with all stakeholders and to represent the industry wherever we can.  In particular we will continue with the dialogues that we have started with regulators and central banks.  We are delighted with the response we have received from all of the delegates.”

One of the key issues that came up was the difficulty that all MTOs are facing in accessing bank accounts. This is particularly the case with anyone who would like a bank account in the USA, UK, Switzerland and a number of other countries. According to Hetal Popat, from Barclays Bank: “The money transfer sector is important to Barclays - it provides a crucial service to end-customers and their families and friends. Banking the sector raises specific challenges as highlighted by speakers from HM Revenue and Customs and the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency, and we therefore expect firms to operate to the highest standards of AML due diligence. Firms that operate to this high standard and meet all of our requirements in this respect should feel assured of our ongoing support.”

Of great interest, during the Summit, was the degree of scepticism that was shown by delegates to the likely speed of penetration of mobile in the cross-border arena. It would appear that because it has not taken off yet that most of the operators think it is unlikely to do so for the foreseeable future.

The results of this year’s IAMTN Annual Money Transfer Awards were announced at a special ceremony during the Summit. There is no better reward than being recognised by one’s peers and the Award winners were announced by Mohit Davar, Hon Chairman-IAMTN and presented by Veronica Studsgaard, CEO-IAMTN.

The winners were:
 

Best Money Transfer Company for Middle East 2012 -
Eastnets
Best Money Transfer Company for Europe 2012 – WorldRemit
Best Money Transfer Company for Eastern Europe 2012 – Unistream Commercial Bank
Best Money Transfer Company for Africa 2012 – Money Express, Senegal 

Best Money transfer Company for Asia Pacific including South Asia 2012 – DongA Money Transfer Company

We will provide full details of the winners over the coming weeks.

Contact Information

Kellie Waidson

Conference Manager

IAMTN

Contact via E-mail