- Bill Shorten and his party promise to make money transfer fees less expensive
- Migrants in Australia lose an estimated $80 per $1000 they send to friends and family in their home country
- Australians send around $16 billion in remittances per annum
Sending money overseas will be more affordable under a Bill Shorten government, the federal opposition says as his party plans to require money transfer services as well as banks to disclose the real cost of sending money abroad.
Australians send an estimated $16 billion in remittances annually, based numbers from 2015. A large portion of this amount is sent by migrants who now work and live in the country. Observers add that this amount saw a steady increase in 2016 and 2017.
Transparency will make it easier for Australians to compare deals, according to the opposition. Observers say that this will also make it easier for the government to regulate money transfer services in the country.
Australians are overcharged when they transfer money internationally, an issue that attracted the attention of the government in the past months. Although investigations are still underway, there are reportedly no possible solutions to the hefty transfer fees just yet and Australians who regularly send money abroad still have to contend with such fees.
While money transfer comparison sites are helpful, the cheapest service is still expensive based on recent reports. In fact, these charges amount to millions of Australian dollars per annum. Analysts say that they are largely blamed on exchange rate mark ups. However, there is no data regarding how high these mark ups are. In a news article released by The Australian today, the newspaper says that money transfers also involve confusing fees.
Migrants sending money back home lose around $80 for every $1000 they send.
