Emergency Savings Accounts for Remittance Receivers in MexicoPDF version
By the year 2000, individuals living outside their country of birth had grown to nearly 3 percent of the world’s population, reaching a total 175 million people.1 The money many of these migrants send home, remittances, is an important but relatively poorly understood type of international financial flow. Currently, the use of savings services is low among many remittance receivers. Increasing savings has the possibility to mitigate the negative impacts of unforeseen circumstances, such as medical emergencies or economic hardship.
In Mexico, the financial intermediary Caja Nacional del Sureste (CNS) observed that it was transferring a large amount of remittances to their clients but that very little savings was captured from this flow of money. At the start of the study, only 38 percent percent of the sample of remittance receivers had a savings account at the Caja, and only about one half of these clients had actually saved any portion of their remittance.
In an effort to increase savings among remittance receivers, at the onset of the project, CNS offered a saving account called “Tu Futuro Seguro” (TFS), or “Your Secure Future,” to any remittance receivers in its four branches. The account paid 7 percent annually, compounded every month, with no restrictions on withdrawals or deposits. IT had no starting fees but required the client to sign a non-binding agreement to save a predetermined amount of money for every remittance received. The client decided that amount, although CNS suggested US$20, US$50, or US$100, The client could also make deposits from any other source of income. As the name suggests, the account was marketed to clients as an account to save for emergencies, future economic shocks, and future illnesses. Though clients could withdraw funds, they were encouraged to only use the money only for an emergency purpose.
Take-up of TFS Account: Among the 386 remittance beneficiaries who were randomly assigned to receive the TFS offer, 101 (26.17 percent) opened a savings account. Take-up of TFS was higher among those who live below poverty line. Typically, these people were more likely to be female, with fewer years of education and were more likely to speak indigenous language.
