MFIC and TIGRA Join Forces to Advance Financial Inclusion of Marginalized Transnational Families
The two parties will first develop money transfer and telecommunications services for OFWs in the U.S. and Japan
Washington D.C. – Microfinance International Corporation (MFIC), a D.C. based financial services company, and the Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research & Action (TIGRA), a California based non-governmental organization, have entered into a strategic partnership to pursue their common goal of strengthening the financial services infrastructure in marginalized communities, particularly those that have been impacted by migration.
Among other projects, MFIC and TIGRA intend to jointly develop money transfer and telecommunications services, the two services that connect transnational families and foster family bonds across borders. These services will be first catered to Filipino immigrants living in the U.S. and Japan.
In addition, the two parties will leverage global resources to increase investments in communities impacted by migration. They will collaborate with key stakeholders in government, global and community-based financial institutions, social enterprises that benefit migrant families and other non-governmental organizations.
“I am very excited to partner with TIGRA, which shares the same mission and philosophy and has an extensive network to support the Filipino diaspora community. I look forward to serving this constituency and to contributing to their economic wellbeing,” said Atsumasa Tochisako, President of MFIC.
Similar sentiments were shared by Francis Calpotura, Founder and Executive Director of TIGRA. “Our partnership with MFIC ensures that historically disenfranchised communities will no longer be on the sidelines in reaping the benefits that cutting-edge technology brings to the financial services and global telecommunications sectors. These are critical services to transnational families and now they have strong advocates who are committed to their cause.”
The platform for the partnership will be the “Remit4Change” program, which TIGRA launched in September 2011 in partnership with the government of the Philippines in an attempt to advance the financial inclusion of transnational Filipino families. The program is expected to serve about 100,000 Filipino emigrants to the United States, Canada and Japan each year. The Philippines is the fourth largest remittance receiving country in the world. In 2010, it was estimated that over $21 billion was sent by approximately 10 million overseas Filipino workers.
About MFIC
MFIC is a Washington, D.C. based company that aims to expand affordable and professional financial services to markets where such services have previously been unavailable or overpriced. The company offers a line of products and services, including ARIAS, a money transfer solution that enables financial institutions and payment providers to offer competitive remittance services. MFIC also operates Alante Financial, a financial service center targeted toward unbanked immigrants that helps remittance senders and receivers enhance their economic wellbeing.
About TIGRA
TIGRA's goal is to accredit and promote socially responsible money transfer companies, while redirecting corporate philanthropy to sustainable development projects. Using emerging technology and traditional community organizing approaches, we are driving change in the way money is sent and received, how migrant communities at home and abroad develop and how remitters and transfer companies interact. At every step of the way, TIGRA seeks to empower transnational communities and the companies that support them. Check out their websites at www.transnationalaction.org, and at www.remit4change.com.
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