Algeria
Egypt
Israel
Jordan
Lebanon
Libya
Morocco
Palestine *
Syria *
TunisiaFEMISE Conference Paper 3: Impacts of Neo-Banks on North African Migrants’ Remittances and Financial Inclusion
This paper was submitted and accepted for presentation at the FEMISE 2023 Annual Conference, “Shifting Paradigms: Opportunities for a Deeper EU-Mediterranean Integration in a Changing World,” Barcelona, Spain, 27-29 September 2023 under the theme: A better integrated Euro-Mediterranean region.
Over the past decade, remittances to North African countries have significantly increased, rising from $17.7 billion in 2008 to $65 billion in 2023. These remittances are crucial for families and local economies in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia.
This study examined remittance trends and financial institution preferences among North African migrants in Europe and assesses neo-banks’ potential to foster financial inclusion and cost reductions. The main objective was to explore how neo-banks can alleviate economic pressures on North African migrants and help achieve the World Bank Group’s goal of reducing remittance costs to 5% and the UNSDG target of 3%. Key findings revealed that North African migrants had diverse remittance behaviors, with varying frequencies and amounts sent home.
