Mass Cash Flows ~ Sending Money Abroad

Maria Sacchetti writes in the Globe about Cash flowing to native lands: Mass. residents sent $1.8b last year to loved ones back home...

"...immigrants showed their enduring devotion to their loved ones last year by sending $1.8 billion home to more than 200 countries, according to the first full accounting of the cash that flows out of Massachusetts. The findings are based on a Globe review of annual reports that money-transfer companies such as MoneyGram and Western Union are required to file each year with the state. The reports do not specify who sent the money, but industry analysts and government officials say that they believe the vast majority are immigrants, who favor money-transfer companies because they are quick and easy to use. The top destinations for the money transfers last year -- Brazil, the Dominican Republic, China, and Guatemala -- closely mirror the major immigrant groups in Massachusetts. But the list also reflects the state’s remarkable diversity, with sizable amounts going to Ghana, Poland, and Taiwan."