VIETNAMESE MONEY TRANSFER MARKET:
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Vietnamese in the US and Canada:
Vietnamese came to the US mainly as refugees and asylum seekers from the mid-1970s onward. Today, there are about 1.1 million Vietnamese immigrants, making them the fifth-largest immigrant group after Mexican, Filipino, Indian, and Chinese immigrants.
The Vietnamese immigrant population grew faster than other immigrant groups during the 1970s to the 1990s, but has since grown much slower than the overall immigrant population in the US.
Over half of Vietnamese immigrants reside in California and Texas and almost 20% reside in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Compared to the foreign born overall, the Vietnamese foreign born were less likely to hold a bachelor's degree but had much higher naturalization and homeownership rates. View and Download this document on Vietnamese in the US.
Vietnamese immigrants in Canada are around 200,000. The Canandian Census in 2001 reported 150,000, the 5th largest non-European ethnic group in Canada after Chinese, East Indian, Filipino, and Jamaican. They have settled mainly in the eastern sections of Vancouver and in Montreal's downtown and south shore. In Toronto they have settled in the city's Chinatown area near Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West or to the west in Mississauga. Vietnamese Canadians brought their cuisine and it has become a popular food everywhere in Canada - there are more than 100 Vietnamese restaurants in Montreal. In 2006, Vietnamville - Khu phố Việt Nam - or Vietnamtown in Montreal was started and more than 150 vietnamese business have move into the area. View and Download this document on Vietnamese in Canada.
Money Transfers to Vietnam:
In 2008, Vietnam reached $7.2 billion, the highest ever, a record that might be broken if the estimates for 2010 hold. In 2009, remittances fell slightly to $6.8 billion despite predictions of a greater drop due to the global crisis.
Although the percentage increase year to year has slowed down, from 25% in 2005, 20% in 2006, 15% in 2007 and 31% in 2008 the rate of increase might stay above 10% in the coming years (see chart).
This increasing trend in officially reported remittances is partly a function of the formal sectors capturing a larger share of the total remittance market from informal market participants.
Remittances to Vietnam are sent from all over the world, however, the vast majority of remittances are sent from the U.S. (around 75% (?) of total remittances, 6 B), followed by Canada, Australia, Europe, Taiwan, Malaysia, and the UAE.
MT leaders in Vietnam:
Historically Vietnamese sent home to their families by couriers, people that traveled to Vietnam taking money to friends and acquitances. As the country became more stable and the development of money transfer companies and the banking sector increased, the volume of remittances became easier to measure. Market leaders Western Union and Moneygram probably hold a large percentage of the market originated from the US. Ethnic companies such as Hoa Phat and Le Gởi Tiền Lẹ.
Hoa Phat started as a gift shop in the early 1980s founded by a Vietnamese refugee couple, Hoa and Phat Nguyen. Today, Saigon Central Post, doing business as Hoa Phat , has central office is in the heart of Little Saigon, California, 20 branch offices and more than 50 agents throughout the US. It is licensed in more than 10 states where large pockets of Vietnamese Americans are located such as California, Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Georgia, Minnesota, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Similar to Hoa Phat, Le Gởi Tiền Lẹ was established in Little Saigon in Westminster, Calif., by Thuy Truong Le in 1999. Omnex Group, Inc., bought the company five years later. Today, Le Goi Tien Le (LGTL) is a dba of Omnex Group, licensed in more than 45 states in the US, with 13 branches and over 170 agents all over the US and Canada.
In 2010 many Vietnamese money transfer companies reported inflows of over $1 billion. Leading the list of overseas remittance payment companies by amount was Vietcombank with $1.35 billion, followed by Sacomrex $1.3 billion (Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank - Sacombank) , up 45 percent on year, EAB Overseas Remittance Co (East Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank [EAB] - DongABank) $1.22 billion, up by 22%. Overseas remittance inflows via Vietinbank (CTG) hit $680 million in the first eight months of the year, up 20% on a year. The remittances paid via banks surged 80% against 2009. View and Download this document by Raul Hernandez-Coss for the World Bank (somewhat outdated - 2005, but nonetheless very interesting - larrge file).
Cost of MT to Vietnam:
The World Bank Group has been publishing the cost of a MT in a number of corridors. An average US 200 MT from the US to Vietnam costs:
|
Institution |
Fee |
Exchange Rate |
Total Cost |
Total Cost (USD) |
||
|
Bank Average US |
7.33 |
0 |
3.67 |
7.33 |
Total Average Third quarter 2010 | |
|
Bank Average Canada |
22.94 |
3.56 |
14.18 |
30.63 |
US = 5.91 | |
|
MTO Average US |
11.39 |
0.96 |
6.65 |
13.30 |
Canada = 10.12 |
|
|
MTO Average Canada |
8.82 |
1.97 |
6.05 |
13.07 |
Total Average First quarter 2010 |
|
|
Total Average US |
11.40 |
0.28 |
5.98 |
11.96 |
US = 5.98 | |
|
Total Average Canada |
15.88 |
2.76 |
10.12 |
21.85 |
Canada = 9.89 |
|
The Institutions surveyed in the US were: Western Union - Wells Fargo - MoneyGram - iKobo - Coinstar - Visit Us to Vietnam Price Data for detailed information.
The Institutions surveyed in Canada were: LeGoiTienLe - Coinstar - Western Union - Royal Bank of Canada - MoneyGram - iKobo - Bank of Montreal - ScotiaBank - Toronto Dominion Bank - CIBC Visit Canada to Vietnam Price Data for detailed information.
