Sending money to family and friends in Mexico got faster, convenient, and extremely personal. A new web app-based service named Tuyyo, powered by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (ADR)(NYSE:BBVA), will upend the $73 billion yearly market for remittances to the Caribbean and Latin America from the U.S.
In the preliminary phase – the U.S. to Mexico corridor – the app will offer huge benefits for both receivers and senders in what is by far the world’s leading remittance market where over $27 billion flows annually. Internationally, the remittance market is set to surpass $600 billion this year and reach close to $629 billion in 2018.
The details
By reducing the requirement for money transfer agents to be involved, and by starting over 11,000 Bancomer ATM machines in Mexico to receivers, Tuyyo provides nearly instantaneous transfers and far more easy access to the funds, while lowering the costs involved. Recipients will be able to get the money straight from their account and still at cash pick up sites.
Tuyyo will also allow senders to add a message with the remittance notification, so they can ensure their family member or friend sees the love and funds coming in. In later phases, it is intended that this message service will grow to include video and voice messages, ensuring the remittance procedure can properly reveal the reasons people send funds across the border.
Further evolutions comprise being able to offer micro-financing or insurance solutions with the sender disbursing the bill via app for the advantage of the receiver – for instance to purchase a new refrigerator where the repayments are done through the app straight to the retailer.
Tuyyo is directing the service with fund transfers to Mexico from the U.S., where the average sum sent by workers in the U.S. is nearly $1,900 per family per year.
