Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion

This is the 2-page executive summary highlighting comparative costs of transferring money through formal and informal channels from the IMTFI White Paper, "Haitian Monetary Ecologies and Repertoires: A Qualitative Snapshot of Money Transfer and Savings" and “Mobile Money in Haiti: Potentials and Challenges”.

Time and cost constitute one of the key barriers to circulating goods and money in Haiti. For the banked, the lines and time it takes to access banking services have given rise to a variety of strategies to negotiate and sometimes avoid the lines. Banking in Haiti requires planning, money, and social networks as who you know at the bank can also make a difference on how fast one receives service. Most bank and transfer services operate in major cities and towns. For individuals who reside in places where these services are not available, sending and receiving money can be an expensive and time consuming undertaking. The vast majority of Haitians are “unbanked”, and thus save and circulate money outside of the formal banking system. Many of the unbanked live outside of Port-au-Prince and rely extensively upon informal social networks and alternative infrastructures to move money.