Remás - expanding immigrants' financial options
This project also has a Changeshop where you can read more about its latest progress.
Go to Changeshop: Remás - expanding immigrants' financial options.
Remás enables immigrants to save on money transfer fees and access the financial mainstream, with our free website, apps and text message tools.
Sobre ti
Sobre ti
Nombre
Brendan
Apellido
McBride
URL en Twitter
URL en Facebook
Sobre tu organización
Nombre de la organización
Remás
Sitio web de la organización
País de la organización
Estados Unidos, NY, Brooklyn, Kings County
Países en donde este proyecto está creando impacto social
Estados Unidos
Tu organización es
OSC/ONG
¿Cuánto tiempo ha estado operando la organización?
1-5 años
¿Tu organización ha recibido premios y/u honores? Cuéntanos sobre ellos.
> AT&T/One Economy's "Apps for Good" contest - Grand Prize + Popular Choice awards, 2011 (http://applicationsforgood.org/)
> Center for Urban Pedagogy's Making Policy Public project, 2011 (http://makingpolicypublic.net)
La información que brindes aquí será usada para llenar las partes de tu perfil que hayan sido dejadas en blanco, como intereses, organización, y sitio web. Ninguna información de contacto será hecha pública. Por favor desmarca esta casilla si no deseas que esto suceda..
Innovación
Selecciona la fase que describa mejor el momento en el que se encuentra tu emprendimiento
Inicio (iniciativa piloto que acaba de empezar a ponerse en práctica)
¿Cuánto tiempo se lleva poniendo en práctica tu iniciativa?
Operando entre 1-5 años
La necesidad: ¿Cuál es el problema que tratas de solucionar?
Immigrants send billions of dollars home every year -- mostly through money transfer companies like Western Union -- but their transfer options are impossible to compare due to constantly changing costs. We've seen disruptive internet innovations in countless industries, but the internet still isn't much help for immigrants trying to understand their financial options.
Limited pricing transparency (named a key area for improving money transfer by the World Bank) restricts consumer choices and lessens the impact of the $100M US immigrants send *every day*. On top of this, Latino immigrants -- 6% of the US population -- are only half as likely as people born in the US to have a bank account (ie, be "banked"), severely limiting their access to the financial tools that increase prosperity.
La solución: ¿Cuál es tu solución? Sé específico.
Remás enables immigrants to save on money transfer fees, access the financial mainstream, and gain prosperity for themselves and their communities in the U.S. and abroad.
Our free website, mobile app, and text message tool let users compare costs, save on fees and send more home. We also show users their options for opening a bank account, giving them tools to improve their financial well-being and send money at a lower cost.
El Modelo: Muéstranos a través de un ejemplo específico cómo tu solución hace una diferencia, incluye tus actividades primarias
Currently, if somebody wants to send money to her family in Mexico, for example, she has to visit stores or make dozens of calls to companies to compare exchange rates and fees. After all that, she'd find out that sending $100 could cost anywhere from $5.83 to $17.50.
Alternatively, she could visit the Remás website (research shows that 41% of Latino immigrants go online regularly) or our mobile site, app, or text message tool on her phone (92% of Latino immigrants report using cell phones), enter transfer details (origin, destination, amount, speed) and compare the costs of sending money either online or via local agents. Maps display local sending locations plus receiving locations in Mexico.
In addition to the price comparison, our tools show her what nearby banks and credit unions require (eg, type of ID) to open a bank account and what services they offer (eg, money transfer products, savings accounts, etc.). There's also clear information on local nonprofits offering financial literacy classes and services nearby.
Remás' tools enable consumers to save money on their regular financial transactions (ie, money transfers) as well as gain access to "mainstream" financial products that encourage long-term financial stability.
El mercado: ¿Quiénes son tus pares y competidores? Identifica a otros que también estén trabajando para dar respuesta a las necesidades que tú abordas y en qué te diferencias de ellos. ¿Cuáles son los desafíos que estos jugadores podrían representar para tu éxito o crecimiento?
1. Money transfer companies (status quo): biased (goal is to convince people to use their services); Remás will have more data than any MTC about pricing trends and will provide this to consumers; Remás may be viewed as threat without our continued partnership building and communications with the industry
2. The World Bank's "Remittance Prices Worldwide" tool: marketed to and serves researchers and policymakers (not consumers); not user friendly; only updated quarterly, manual data collection; we will seek funding to provide more accurate, real-time data to WB
3. fxcompared.com: features paid affiliates, not all MT options; doesn't include exchange rates in calculations; expat/students abroad target market; no text, mobile, app services
Esta presentación se trata de
Impacto social
Historia de la fundación: Queremos saber acerca del momento en el que hiciste "¡Ajá!". Comparte la historia de dónde y cuándo el/los fundador(es) vio (vieron) el potencial de esta solución para cambiar el mundo.
Living in immigrants’ hometowns in Latin America, I saw how remittances brought families out of poverty. Later I led an outreach team that helped migrant farmworkers in the US navigate healthcare institutions. As a housing developer, I worked in Spanish with hundreds of immigrants to improve their mortgage eligibility, showing me the financial obstacles they faced, including deep distrust of banks.
These experiences affirmed my belief that our society needs immigrants to thrive -– which they can’t do if they are on the margins of society. I created Remás to correct a basic injustice: lost potential. Remas will improve immigrants’ ability to prosper here, realizing the potential of immigration to uplift people across the world.
Por favor, describe el objetivo de tu iniciativa: un resumen de lo que están tratando de lograr
We envision a world where technology provides access to the information and tools that lead to economic opportunities for immigrants, their families, and their communities. Remás' Travelocity-like money transfer comparison tool enables immigrants to save on money transfer fees and access the financial mainstream. Equipped with accurate knowledge about their financial options, prosperity for immigrants and their communities -- in the U.S. and abroad -- can become a reality.
¿A qué barrera(s) a la inclusión financiera tu solución busca dirigirse? (selecciona todas las pertinenetes)
Físicas y otros obstáculos de accesibilidad que impiden que los servicios financieros lleguen a las comunidades, Falta de productos financieros asequibles adaptados a las necesidades de las comunidades marginadas y excluidas, Poderosos incentivos para que los proveedores de servicios financieros asciendan en el mercado.
Si ha seleccionado "otro", por favor especificar qué otras barreras a la inclusión financiera tu solución busca dirigirse
¿Para qué comunidades marginadas o excluidas tu solución creará un acceso a servicios financieros valiosos, asequibles, seguros e integrales?
Remás provides financial service access for immigrant communities in the United States and their families back home, initially (during our current pilot) in Mexico, and ultimately around the globe. For many immigrants, the act of sending money home is one, and sometimes the only, moment when they come into contact with formal financial systems. Remás capitalizes on that moment by first connecting people with the best information out there about their money transfer choices, and then connecting them with options for getting banked.
¿Tu solución podría operar en otros conextos o regiones? Si así fuera, ¿en dónde?
While we are currently focusing on the US-Mexico corridor, the technological infrastructure we have built can easily be applied to other global remittance pathways. We have executed data sharing contracts with US-based money transfer companies that do business in multiple countries, including Mexico, enabling Remás to expand the model to those countries without the need to create entirely new partnerships to access that data in the future.
Si tu solución tuviera un éxito espectacular, ¿cómo serían las cosas diferentes en 10 años?
- 2 million+ users nationwide will be enabled to save $140 million in transfer fees, meaning more resources for money senders here and/or more money sent home, where the dollar has an amplified impact
- New life options for users through increased financial inclusion; access to responsible mainstream financial products will reduce expensive reliance on alternative financial services (eg, check cashing, money orders) and change a family’s financial options, making it possible to do things like build credit, buy a home, and save securely
¿Qué tendría que haber cambiado para que esto sucediera?
There will need to be a shift in the control of information about financial options -- including money transfers, banking options, and more --to immigrant consumers (20 million+), altering the market dynamic like Travelocity or Kayak has for airfares.
¿Cuál ha sido el impacto de la solución hasta la fecha?
We are near completion of the tools (website, app, text tool) that will be rolled out during our pilot phase. We plan to assess their impact (number of users, dollars saved, dollars repurposed for other, bank accounts opened, number of users connected to financial education services) beginning in the pilot phase.
Cuál es tu impacto proyectado para los próximos 5 años?
- We'll have built a national system for money transfer price comparison from the US to most countries worldwide that will help immigrants in the US who send money home save money on this common transaction.
- Our banking tool will be the first option for evaluating immigrants' banking options, creating a pathway to mainstream financial inclusion for a national user base
-Our tools to identify financial education resources will enable this same user base to find further resources for understanding their financial options.
- We will have access to a national network of organizations working on issues of financial inclusion that will a) benefit from Remas tools by expanding access to potential clients and b) allow collaboration to create other tools to promote financial inclusion.
Las iniciativas ganadoras presentan un plan fuerte de cómo van a alcanzar y realizar un seguimiento del crecimiento. Identifica tus metas a seis meses para el crecimiento de tu impacto
Completion of Remás platform
Identifica tres grandes tareas que tendrás que completar para llegar a las metas de seis meses.
Tarea 1
Complete second version of website, mobile website, and text message comparison tool
Tarea 2
Complete banking comparison tool in collaboration with Facilitas/"Find a Better Bank"
Tarea 3
Secure direct feed of data from at least five money transfer companies
¡Ahora piensa en grande! Identifica tu meta de impacto a 12 meses.
Pilot Remás tools to 1,000+ users
Identifica tres grandes tareas que tendrás que completar para llegar a tu meta de impacto a 12 meses
Tarea 1
Marketing partnership with > 3 ( local organizations in pilot area (Sunset Park) + > 10 NYC financial literacy organizations
Tarea 2
Raise funds to support pilot program from individual and institutional donors
Tarea 3
Launch pilot in at least one Brooklyn neighborhood (Sunset Park), trialing US-Mexico comparison + banking tools with residents
Sostenibilidad
Cuéntanos sobre tus alianzas.
- Money transfer companies - signed data agreements with two companies and negotiating with many more
- Center for Urban Pedagogy - producing and widely distributing a fold out poster about myths and realities of banking system
- Media - featured on Mashable/Daily Markets/CNET, and a primary source for a recent Consumer Reports article about money transfers
- Nonprofits - eg, Ariva (NYC) and Qualitas of Life (NYC) to test our tools and promote their services
- Universities - pro bono support from Columbia B school, University of the Arts, and Brooklyn Law
¿Actualmente te estás dirigiendo a otras poblaciones, lugares o los mercados para tu innovación? Si es así, ¿dónde y por qué?
Our first step is to pilot our tools in the Sunset Park, Brooklyn community. Upon successful completion of our pilot, we plan to market Remás amongst all NYC-based Mexican communities.
¿Qué tipo de sistema operativo y factores internos de la organización hacen que tu innovación sea un éxito?
The success of Remas thus far has been built on the passion and skills of volunteers, ranging from programmers to graphic designers to university students helping to gather our data. As we transition to a non-volunteer organization, we will seek to always integrate volunteer passion and expertise into our model and also use these relationships to promote awareness about issues of financial inclusion.
User input has also been a big force in informing the design of our tools and in showing us our successes and mistakes; constantly seeking user input has to be a core part of our practice as we achieve greater scale, both to inform the design of our current tools and create an environment for innovation to create new tools for financial inclusion.
Por favor, pon en claro las necesidades u ofertas que hayas mencionado anteriormente y/o sugiere categorías de apoyo que no están especificadas en la lista
| Adjunto | Tamaño |
|---|---|
| Remas homepage | 115.95 KB |
| Remas web comparison tool | 236.49 KB |
| Remas mobile comparison tools | 367.16 KB |
 | 40 weeks ago Brendan McBride updated this Competition Entry. |
| 42 weeks ago Brendan McBride updated this Competition Entry. |
| 42 weeks ago Brendan McBride updated this Competition Entry. |
| 43 weeks ago Brendan McBride updated this Competition Entry. |
| 43 weeks ago Brendan McBride submitted this idea. |