The journey so far: making cross-border remittances work for financial inclusion

International remittances play an essential role in supporting economic development and policy objectives related to financial inclusion. To achieve this aim, international remittances have received considerable attention from policymakers, international financial institutions and global standard setters over the past two decades. Notwithstanding these efforts, there continue to be barriers to efficient cross-border remittances.

This paper aims to shed light on current conditions in international remittances and challenges from a financial inclusion perspective. The paper takes stock of such conditions and attempts to pinpoint areas where progress has been most challenging. It also identifies reasons for remaining obstacles and highlights ongoing initiatives to address them. The analysis draws on a unique set of information sources, namely the assessment reports by the World Bank – which are usually not published – and the Financial Action Task Force's mutual evaluation reports.

JEL classification: I32, O16, O19

Keywords: AML/CFT, corridors, Covid-19, cross-border payments, digitalisation, G20 Roadmap SDGs, RSPs