Earthport launches payments route to Mexico and Colombia
Earthport says it can provide more efficient payments in Mexico (pictured) and Colombia
Cross-border payments company Earthport has launched two new routes into Mexico and Colombia, as part of a drive to open up Latin America for faster, more efficient and transparent payments.
Mexico receives £14 billion in remittance payments every year, making it the fourth largest remittance market after India, China and the Philippines according to the World Bank. Meanwhile, Colombia is the fourth largest remittance destination in Latin America.
“The addition of Mexico and Colombia will further cement our position as the specialist white-label service for low value payments with a global footprint in all continents,” said Paul Thomas, executive director at Earthport. “Our service enables our clients to provide advance disclosure of the principal amount and settlement dates of cross-border transfers, resulting in improved transparency and predictability as well as enhanced customer experience.”
Dodd-Frank 1073 is the US regulation that deals with cross-border payments. Thomas added that ensuring payments were compliant with 1073 was a key selling point of the new scheme.
Since it was introduced on 28 October 2013, Dodd-Frank 1073 has introduced new consumer protections for remittance transfers sent by consumers in the US to individuals and businesses located in foreign countries. Financial institutions in the US that qualify as remittance transfer providers are required to disclose certain information to consumers both prior to, and after execution of, a remittance transfer. Under the rules, for all remittance transfers initiated by a consumer in the US, RTPs must:
- Provide fee disclosure at the point of- and time-of origination including FX conversion, if needed.
- Indicate the amount of funds to be received by the recipient of the remittance transfer.
- Indicate the date of funds availability to the recipient.
- Inform the sender that they have the right to cancel a transaction up to 30 minutes after submitting it.
- Adhere to requirements regarding resolution of inquiries, complaints and the return of funds.
In August last year, mobile payments network YellowPepper launched in Colombia, marking the beginning of a massive project to bank the unbanked and sweep away the dominance of cash across the Spanish-speaking Americas. Miami-based YellowPepper signed 12 Colombian banks to its system, which consists of a mobile payments card called Socia, developed by YellowPepper for Credibanco, one of the two payments processors in Colombia.
