Migrant workers would be allowed to remit their wages back to their home countries through convenience stores by early next year at the earliest after the conclusion of a sandbox experiment, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said yesterday.
The commission’s remarks came after it began reviewing applications from three non-financial sector companies to participate in another experiment to provide services such as international money transfers for people shopping on foreign e-commerce sites.
The commission is to complete the review and reach a final decision by the end of this year, Department of Planning Director General Lin Chih-Chi (林志吉) told the Taipei Times.
If the experiment is approved, migrant workers would be the biggest beneficiaries of the service.
The commission has requested experiment applicants to limit their services to migrant workers, as it aims to decrease the risk of money laundering, Lin said.
Migrant workers face remittance problems, as the operating hours of banks are not convenient, Lin added.
When such workers seek assistance from brokerage agencies, they must wait for a considerable amount of time before they can know if their intended recipient received the money, as the firms collect remittance from dozens of workers before sending them, Lin said.
“If a migrant worker does make it to a bank to repatriate their salary home, the bank would usually charge more than NT$100 as transaction fee, which is a burden for workers,” Lin added.
Many migrant workers tend to use US-based Western Union Quick Cash as a major channel for remittances, the commission said.
However, the firm was earlier this year suspected of being involved in money laundering and Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) and Yuanta Commercial Bank (元大銀行) have stopped cooperating with it.
The government on April 30 promulgated the Act on Financial Technology Innovations and Experiments (金融科技創新實驗條例), commonly known as the financial regulatory sandbox, as part of efforts to establish an experimental environment for financial technology start-ups, and to use technology to create innovative financial products and services.
The mechanism provides a space for technology firms and financial institutions to test products and services without fear of triggering regulatory consequences.
If the new proposal is approved, it would be the second experiment to be put into practice.
The commission in September approved a proposal from KGI Bank (凱基銀行) and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) for the bank to provide small loans to the telecom’s customers.
Chunghwa Telecom subscribers can apply for loans from KGI with a mobile phone, while KGI uses telecom subscription data to identify the applicant and issue loans.
As with the loans, remittances made through convenience stores would be limited to small amounts, the commission said, adding that migrant workers would need to designate the recipient.
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