MADISON, Wis. - The World Council of Credit Unions’ International Remittance Network (lRnet), which in 2007 surpassed the $2-billion mark in total volume of remittance transactions since its inception in 2001, has expanded its program to Peru with the addition of 11 credit unions with 31 points of service in the country.
At year-end 2007, there were 128 U.S. credit unions offering Vigo money transfers through World Council’s program. With the addition of Peru, credit unions in 10 countries now distribute remittances with IRnet.
More than 1.5 million transactions in 2007 carried $578 million across borders, bringing the total number of transactions performed through IRnet to more than 5 million, WOCCU said.
“Three billion dollars in remittances were sent to Peru last year,“ said Manuel Rabines, 2nd vice chairman of World Council and general manager of Federación Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito del Perú (FENACREP), the national association for credit unions in Peru.
“Offering remittances through credit unions is a way to attract new members and expand product development. For example, Peruvians living here and abroad want to purchase land for building homes and need affordable ways to finance their children’s education. They can do this with access to remittance-linked products through the credit unions.”
Through its remittance program, World Council has formed strategic alliances with Vigo, MoneyGram and Coinstar so that credit unions can offer members and non-members affordable options for sending and receiving remittances. Users can perform not only credit union-to-credit union transactions but may also send from or to retail outlets offering remittances through the same money transfer organization.
For info: www.woccu.org.
