By Eduardo Nakasone, Máximo Torero & Angelino Viceisza

Migrant remittances are significant but remain relatively costly to send. Policymakers have argued that fintech, specifically, comparison websites like kayak.com but for sending money, can boost financial inclusion and reduce remittance prices. Yet, little is known about how migrants with limited education and trust in digital methods interact with fintech. We conduct a field experiment on a comparison website and vary remittance-company attributes shown to migrants, specifically, the time for delivery and customer reviews. We use visual attention data to explore search. We find that (1) while 10-28 percent of migrants exhibit some type of remittance habit, more than half experiment with companies once provided with fintech information; (2) while migrant response to information is rational and search seems targeted, there is considerable heterogeneity—those with low prior awareness of comparison sites, financial literacy, or information-processing capability are less responsive to fintech; and (3) when presented with fintech information, migrants are 44 percent more likely to behave counter to the preferences over attributes they exhibit outside of the study. As such, they pay 20-30 percent more despite typically shopping around for the cheapest company. The findings suggest a nuanced potential for fintech to improve financial inclusion and consumer welfare.

Source Nber