The typical amount remitted per transaction by international migrants ranges from US$100 to US$1,000 (Sander and Maimbo 2003, 16). According to the World Bank (2004), the global average transaction value is US$200. Migrants make significant sacrifices to send an average of US$200 eight or more times per year to their home country. Several studies indicate that permanent migrants send about 15 per cent of their salary home, whereas temporary migrants may remit up to 50 per cent of their income (USAID 2002, quoted in Sander 2003a, 8). For the average Latin American or Caribbean migrant in the United States, who earns less than US$25,000 per year , remittances may account for nearly 10 per cent.
