Posted on 08/08/2007 6:05:12 PM PDT by dbwz
NEW BRUNSWICK — City resident Jose Villanueva sends a portion of his monthly earnings to his family in Honduras every month.
And each time he does, Western Union takes a chunk of that money. For every $300 Villanueva sends, the global corporation charges him $11 to $15 per wire transfer, he said at a forum — held in New Brunswick Tuesday — about Western Union's fees.
"They should lower those fees and give some of that money to the community," Villanueva said. "When you think about the money they are making, most of it has to be from the Latino community. It has to be. Everyone I know sends money back home."
Villanueva isn't far off.
According to a study conducted by the Inter-American Development Bank last October, Latino immigrants working in the United States sent around $45 billion to their homelands in 2006, up from some $30 billion in 2004.
The report, which covered 48 states and the District of Columbia, was conducted among 2,511 adults born in Latin America and working in the United States.
Immigrants in New Jersey sent nearly $1.9 billion to Latin American countries in 2006, the study found, ranking the Garden State sixth out of all states surveyed. California topped the list, followed by Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois.
Like Villanueva, Latinos across the country are joining a campaign in an effort to get Western Union, the world's largest money transfer service, to lower its commission fees. The movement is being led by the Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action, or TIGRA.
"It's hard for immigrants to think about the profit Western Union is making off of them, because they're busy working and dealing with day-to-day struggles," said , TIGRA's New York regional coordinator. "We have to inform the community, because the bottom line is (that) the actual cost of a single remittance is $4.94 and for the second and subsequent remittances, only $3.27. So why are we being charged much more?"
Campaign organizers in September invited Western Union officials for a meeting to discuss fees and rates.
"We never got a response," Irani said.
Western Union spokesman Daniel Diaz said the company is "leading the trend in terms of transparency" about its fees, which he said are reasonable.
"We provide affordable and convenient services," he said. "It's important to note that consumers around the world have many options in terms of sending money yet they consistently choose us because we're trusted and have 150 years history of serving consumers around the globe."
According to figures compiled by TIGRA this year, although it costs Western Union less than $5 to send a remittance, the company charges its customers about $22.65 for a single transaction. MoneyGram, another money transfer service, isn't far off, charging $20.77 to send money.
But Diaz disputed those figures.
To send $1,000 to Mexico within minutes, he said, a consumer will pay $14.99. To send that amount for the next day, Diaz said, a consumer pays $9.99.
But Western Union's fees aren't the only issue for those involved in TIGRA's campaign.
"Western Union made $6 billion as a corporation last year," said Leticia Alaniz, an organizer with La Union de La Comunidad Latina, a Brooklyn-based organization involved in TIGRA's campaign. "How much of that is thanks to Latinos? Western Union should reinvest some of that money into our communities."
Western Union should invest in the community as do other large corporations that enjoy the patronage of Latino customers, Alaniz said.
Wal-Mart, a TIGRA report found, reinvests $2.30 per $100 of profits into community programs. Ben and Jerry's reinvests $7.50 per $100 of profits. Western Union, on the other hand, invests only 32 cents per $100 of profits into the community, according to the report.
But Diaz said Western Union gave $80 million in the past five years to support community programs around the globe.
"What we are doing from a philanthropic point is as good, if not better, than the average standard," Diaz said.
A few Latino immigrants who attended Tuesday's forum, held at the offices of New Labor, an immigrant labor-rights group, said they wire money through Bank of America, which sends the money for free provided one has an account with the bank.
But not every immigrant has access to a Bank of America branch, Alaniz said.
"There are only 22,700 Bank of America branches nationwide. It's hard for Latinos who live in rural areas or anywhere outside of cities to get to them," she said.
Immigrants are more likely to patronize Western Union because the corporation has the largest number of outlets worldwide, with 305,000, according to TIGRA's figures.
"It's like we're getting robbed," a Mexican native who attended the forum said, shaking his head in bewilderment as he read the figures in the report.
"I'm going to try and educate my friends as much as possible. If we get together, maybe something will change."
I've posted this at the request of my brother, who has apparently forgotten his screen name and account info. We'll excuse him; he's a hard-workin' kinda guy without much time to devote to keyboard wargames.
Knowing what we do of history, it's interesting to watch as a "downtrodden" minority is encircled and manipulated by those who would claim to work in their interests. I'm talking about people like Leticia Alaniz, the organizer with La Union de La Comunidad Latina, and Kehan Irani, the NY regional coordinator for TIGRA. Are they just looking to help their people? Maybe. But they are more likely looking to garner political power to further an agenda. And they'll probably succeed in getting Western Union to cave in and reinvest their obscene profits in community programs that make it even easier for illegals to make money here, send it there, and have someone else subsidize their care and feeding while they're here. Toward what end? I'll leave that question to your fertile imaginations.
By the way, I don't see anything that prevents Mr. Villanueva and the unnamed Mexican native from the last paragraph from keeping a few extra dollars HERE and investing in their OWN communities.
They’re sending the money Americans just won’t send....
Try doing a TT Transfer for your business to a company in HK or China.
the fees are just as big. I don’t see any newspaper reporters knocking on my door.
I wish there were a way to tax it, without harming the normal international funds transfers of US citizens.
That way, illegals wouldn’t be able to live on the public dole while hording their money to send home.
Boo hoo. It’s the same rate everyone else that uses the service has to pay.
And may I add that since most of these people are illegals, they are sending money that is illegally earned. Forget the fees. Prove you are legal or you can’t send money, period. Nuclear science ain’t it?
I’m sorry ? What is the tax rate for a single male making that money ?
35%
Up it and get the taxes on our money sent to Mehico back in the US
Back to the community?? How much money is he sending OUT of the community??
oh, REALLY? capitalism is why they're HERE, isn't it????
Cue sobbing....
Let Western Union lower their rates........and then tax the hell out of anyone who wires money out of the country.That’s one way to get something out of the illegals
Could care less about sending remittances abroad (the trade in dollars is CIRCULAR folks! If you believe that the flow of capital is a one-way street, then please get the money back from whatever college you attended, if any). Am more pissed off at their illegal presence in this country.
He’s upset about being robbed? LOL These people have no end to what they think their “rights” are as illegals. In some ways I can’t blame them for the “there’s a sucker born every minute” mentality after what they’ve already gotten away with.
What’s he complaining about.If it were up to me I would put a Tax on all wire transfers at the rate of Eight Percent for Non citizens of the U.S. If you have a green card or are an American citizen the fee would be waived.
That’s the only way to start having these criminal aliens paying back the expenses they accrue to the U.S. Tax payer.
“And each time he does, Western Union takes a chunk of that money. For every $300 Villanueva sends, the global corporation charges him $11 to $15 per wire transfer, he said at a forum — held in New Brunswick Tuesday — about Western Union’s fees.”
If they would wire the money directly to me, I would pay the fees for them.
I wonder how I could get in touch with Mr. Villanueva?
Why can't we sent YOU home?
Goodness gracious................So now we are supposed to feel that Western Union is doing something illegal or unethical by charging for the service of transferring money.
So if we’re politically correct, we will think that Western Union is the bad guy. If there were no company like Western Union, how would they transfer money back to their home countries? would they take the chance of sending cash through the mail? Would they send a UPS package and have someone at the other end sign for it? That would cost money. If they had a bank account with an American bank as some illegals do, they would have to pay the bank a small fee to wire money overseas.
I just don’t see why we’re supposed to be moved to dislike Western Union by this piece of advocacy journalism.
Get RID of these folks from our country, is what I say.
Ask not what America and the gringos can do for YOU, ask what YOU can do for America and gringos.
This is something they will never understand. It is too deep in the blood for them otherwise.
Tell me about it. And it seems like I'm always behind you and your friends wanting nothing more than to buy my bag of chips and a Big Gulp.
Yo, Jose, here's an ideer....open a checking account!
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