Here in the Netherlands, the press are so keen on blaming banks for not competing and not giving the best deal to their customers, that we found articles in the newspaper suggesting that the Ministry of Finance wanted credit-transfers to be cheaper.
Upon closer inspection of the source of the news: the Ministry itself (click here) it turns out that the Ministry of Finance has decided to make life easier for money transfer agents, hoping that their current high level of prices, will be lowered and that the remittance market can better flourish (not so much in the underground sector, but legally).
Effectively, the underlying documentation presents a picture that demonstrates that bank fees are systematically and substantially lower than money remittance fees. Still, the Ministry does not find the market for international remittances sufficiently developed and will ask the competition authority to look more deeply into the issue.
Well, remittances are indeed on the agenda now ......
