ANZ launches Pacific Money Transfer Card

The cost of sending money to family and friends in Fiji from Australia will now be cheaper.

This is after ANZ today launched the ‘Pacific Money Transfer Card’, a two card pre paid VISA that makes it more affordable to remit money from Australia to certain countries in the Pacific.

ANZ Head of Retail Banking Fiji, Graham Meecham said remittances make an important contribution to Fiji, both to family incomes and to the GDP of the country's economy and this product is first of its kind for the Pacific.

According to the Reserve Bank of Fiji, the total recorded remittance inflows to Fiji in 2010 were approximately $300million.

This places Fiji in the top ten recipients of personal remittances in East Asia and the Pacific.

Additionally, the Reserve Bank of Fiji reports that 18 cents for every dollar sent ends up in fees, which meant that $54million is lost in fees.

Story by: Filipe Naikaso