Mark Zuckerberg Isn't Leading the Fight Against Global Poverty. Foreign Workers Are Arkadi Kuhlmann - The Mercury News
go to original January 10, 2016

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan made a huge announcement last month: They plan to donate 99% of their Facebook shares to charity. (Facebook)

The Facebook CEO recently announced plans to give away 99 percent of his company stock, currently valued at $45 billion. But his gift pales in comparison to the $600 billion immigrant workers send annually to their families.

International money transfers, or "remittances," provide support to millions. But their impact could be even greater if transfer providers scaled back their fees.

Indeed, much of today's global payment industry thrives on predatory pricing. Fortunately, technology is bringing much-needed disruption to the money-transfer market and putting workers back in control.

International money transfers are the largest and fastest-growing source of income for developing countries, exceeding all the foreign aid that rich countries send to the developing world. To put transfers in perspective, they're a greater source of revenue than tea exports in Sri Lanka. In El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, they provide upwards of 10 percent of GDP.

Unsurprisingly, the United States is the largest source of transfer flows.

About 20 percent of international transfers from the United States head south to Mexico. Another 20 percent are split evenly between China and India.

Read the rest at Daily Democrat

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!