One of the many changes required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is an update to Regulation E to reflect new protections for consumers who make remittance transfers to recipients in foreign countries. A remittance transfer is a transaction in which a consumer sends funds to someone in another country. The proposed rule is expected to help carry out the Dodd-Frank Act's overall intent to improve accountability and transparency in the financial system through new disclosures, notices, and error resolution procedures for remittance transfers. Recently, the Federal Reserve Board (the Board) formally announced its request for public comment on the proposed rule and model disclosures.
According to some initial comments on the proposed rule, some industry participants believe that the added requirements could increase costs and add unnecessary burdens to a system that is, as they view it, already functioning properly. Others expect that the proposed changes will reduce errors and even, in some instances, improve the speed for remittance transfers because of enhanced communications between the sending and receiving agents.
Will these changes to Reg E stifle progress in the remittance industry or help it become more consumer-friendly? And will these changes enable a thriving business environment for transfer providers—rather than stifling market growth—while preserving consumer protections?
Prevalence of remittance transfers
Remittance transfers are typically consumer-to-consumer payments of low monetary value. The World Bank estimates that a total of $440 billion in remittances was sent worldwide in 2010, of which $325 billion went to developing countries. The World Bank further estimates that the United States had the highest volume of remittances in 2009, totaling $48.3 billion.
New disclosures, notices, receipts, and error resolution procedures
Some of the proposed disclosure requirements call for remittance transfer providers to disclose to the sender, before the sender pays any money, the remittance value in the currency of the recipient's country, all fees charged in connection with the remittance transfer, and the exchange rate that will be used (to the nearest 1/100 point). Then, after sending the payment, the provider must provide the sender a series of other disclosures on the receipt. Separate notices are required for transfer providers that offer Internet-initiated remittance transfers.
Additionally, remittance transfer service providers may be required to prominently display notices describing a model remittance transfer in every storefront location that the provider owns or controls. The proposal also adds new error resolution procedures for remittance transfers. Under the proposal, the deadline for a consumer to report an error is 180 days from the promised delivery date. This notice may be oral or written, but it must contain the amount of the transfer shown in the foreign currency amount, as indicated in the receipt.
Testing existing disclosures, notices, and error resolution procedures
Prior to releasing these proposals, the Board consulted with a research group to help determine whether these requirements would help the consumer price shop remittance services or understand their fee structure. Overall, the resulting study found that most participants (remittance senders) were satisfied with their experiences.
The study, when determining what information participants received from remittance transfer service providers during an in-person transaction, found that participants infrequently received written information before they completed the transaction. However, the participants indicated they could get needed information by asking an agent. In contrast, they almost always received some form of written information after the transaction, including the exchange rate, fees, amount of money sent, and so on.
Study participants were also asked to share their experiences with dealing with errors or problems during a remittance transaction. Most reported having had problems with at least one service provider, but almost all reported that their problems were resolved expeditiously. The most common error they reported was the misspelling of the recipient's name.
Conclusion
Remittance transfers are an increasingly important source of income for households in lower-income countries. Yet, given the results of the study on the current state of remittance transfers, it is difficult to know whether the Dodd-Frank's remittance provisions will increase efficiency in the remittance industry while preserving consumer protections. What is clear, though, is that the proposed amendments to Reg. E will establish standardized disclosures and notices, thereby creating more transparency in the remittance industry so that a consumer can confidently price shop providers while fully understanding fee structures and services. Although the Board has initiated these proposals, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau assumed responsibility over this new regulation on July 21, 2011.
By Ana Cavazos-Wright, senior payments risk analyst in the Retail Payments Risk Forum at the Atlanta Fed