Sending money home
- 2019
Challenge
Many Pacific Islanders rely on money from friends or family working overseas. But foreign workers often don’t use the most cost effective services to send money home, so less money makes it back.
Insight
Two behavioural insights could be used to encourage people to send money home in the most cost-effective way:
- Social networks. People’s friends and peers can help them change their behaviour.
- Messenger effect. We give different weight to information depending on who communicates it to us.
Offering influential members of a community digital literacy training can foster network and messenger effects because these people can advise and support their whole community.
Approach
We conducted extensive fieldwork to understand how, when and why Pacific Islanders working in Australia and New Zealand send money home, and how we can help people make more cost-effective choices.
Result & Impact
Sending money home is an emotional decision and familiar services feel like a safe choice. A community-led approach is necessary to encourage and support people in shopping around for better deals.
