Cash going to Mexico likely to start at a bank

Los Angeles Times
By Marla Dickerson
February 13, 2007

MEXICO CITY - Mexicans who work in the United States and send money south of the border are moving into the financial mainstream, according to a new survey.

Fully 70% of migrants interviewed by Mexico's central bank said they had a U.S. bank account. The findings also suggest that U.S. financial institutions are playing an increasing role in the money transfers. People with bank accounts often are able to send money at a cheaper rate than if they wired the money through other means. The survey by the Bank of Mexico provides the central bank's most detailed profile yet of Mexicans working in the U.S. who were responsible for most of the record $23 billion sent to Mexico in 2006.

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