Activity Description: Operated by EthioLink in Addis Ababa, EthioGift is an online gift service allowing Ethiopia's diaspora to purchase products for delivery to friends and family throughout their homeland.

Activity Description:

The Philippine firm Globe Telecom recently announced G-Cash service for its Globe and Touch Mobile subscribers. The 'electronic wallet' feature allows users to send and receive cash and make payments, including bill payments, donations, and online purchases, via texting.

Globe charges a flat fee of Php10.00 for any transaction below Php1,000. For transactions above Php1,000 the fee is 1% of the amount.

Activity Description: The MamaMikes remittance service empowers Kenyan immigrants in North America and Europe to transfer help home - not via cash, but by sending shopping credits, cell phone airtime, and other gifts. MamaMikes operates a courier delivery service in the Nairobi area, and its web site allows senders to set up a monthly remittance payment automatically deducted from their secure account.

Activity Description: Visa International is developing a variety of electronic payment systems (EPS) aimed at stimulating economic growth in developing countries. Electronic payments are beneficial, because they lower transaction costs, stimulate higher consumption and GDP, increase government efficiency, boost financial intermediation, and improve financial transparency. New EPSs can be used to bank the unbanked, and provide financing that allows entrepreneurs to get their businesses started.

Activity Description: Thamel.com is an innovating e-commerce platform that allows the Nepalese diaspora to order products online for their friends and family living in Nepal. These products are sourced from local, Nepalese producers and then delivered to the recipient. The products in the online catalog range from clothes to groceries to motor bikes. All of the money from the transactions stays in Nepal, encouraging job creation and the growth of Nepalese companies.

Activity Description: Todito.com, a Monterrey, Mexico-based company, is implementing a cross-border e-commerce venture. The idea is that Mexican workers in the North, instead of sending money through notoriously expensive transfers, would buy products such as refrigerators and stoves on the Internet, which Mexican companies would then deliver to their families in Mexico. Relying on massive promotion over Hispanic television in the U.S.

Activity Description: Remit2India.com, a division of timesofmoney.com, has partnered with PayPal to launch FastTrack, a way to offer cheap money transfers to India from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Europe, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and Singapore. While transfers from some countries are free, others are subject to a low, flat-rate fee. Even for those countries that must pay for certain transactions, all transfers over a certain amount are free of charge.

Activity Description: The new c2it service offered by Citibank charges a low, flat fee for money transfers from the U.S. to over 120 countries in the world using the Internet. The sender does not have to own a Citibank account, but rather registers with c2it online. Overseas recipients do not need to have an e-mail address or computer to receive the funds. As opposed to charging a percentage rate for transfers, c2it charges a flat rate of $10 for international checks, and $15 for direct deposits.

Activity Description: SafeSend is an innovative ATM remittance service by Bank of America that offers a safe and low-cost way for Hispanics living in the United States to send money home to Mexico. The sender in the US must first open a SafeSend account, which carries no annual fee or minimum balance. He/she can then use an automatic teller machine (ATM), the phone or the Internet to put money into the account 24 hours a day, saving time compared to waiting in line.

Activity Description: DeCompras.com, a Monterrey, Mexico-based company, is implementing a cross-border e-commerce venture. The service will allow Mexican workers living in the United States to purchase products on the Internet, which will then be delivered directly by Mexican companies to their families living in Mexico. In order to overcome low penetration of computers, Internet, and credit cards among recent Mexican immigrants, the venture is a hybrid between Internet and printed catalog sales.