经济学人下载:国际转账的代价 穷人挨税

Finance and economics: The cost of international transfers A tax on the poor
财经：国际转账的代价，穷人挨税

Regulation is keeping remittances unnecessarily expensive.
相关法规导致汇款手续费虚高，而这种费用可有可无。

After sweating through a day's work under the hot Dubai sun, the last thing an Indian construction worker wants is to donate a slug of his earnings to a bank or money-transfer outfit.
在迪拜的烈日底下，刚刚忙完工作的印度建筑工人急着去银行或者汇款处上缴微薄的收入。

Yet that is what he must do.
无奈的是他不得不这么做。

On average, 6.9 cents of every dollar remitted to India from another country is eaten up by fees and foreign-exchange margins, according to the World Bank.
据世界银行统计，其他国家向印度每汇入1美金，手续费和外汇差额平均将会吞掉其中的6.9分钱。

Indians get off relatively lightly.
印度人损失相对较少。

A sub-Saharan African migrant loses an average of 9.7 cents.
撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲国家移民者则平均损失9.7分钱。

In 2009 the G8 pledged to cut the average cost of international remittances to 5% of the sum sent within five years.
2009年，八国集团曾经承诺在五年内把国际汇款平均手续费降低至本金的5%。

Rates have since come down, but not by much: the average is now 7.7%.
自此，费率下降了，但降得不痛不痒：目前仍然平均高达7.7%。

And the implicit tax on remittances is even higher than these figures suggest, since they are based on transfers of $200, but many payments are smaller.
上述数据以汇款金额达到200美金以上作为基础，但实际上大部分汇款金额并没有达到这个要求，使得有关部门对汇款征收的隐形税远远高于图表中揭示的数据。

In part, Dilip Ratha of the World Bank blames the exclusive agreements signed by banks and other companies involved in handling remittances.
世界银行学者拉塔在某种程度上指责各大银行与其他公司共同签署了一份涉及处理汇款问题的独家协议。

By reducing competition, these keep prices high.
他们通过减少行业竞争导致手续费一直居高不下。

Some countries, including India, have banned such tie-ups, but they remain common in Africa.
包括印度在内的某些国家已经禁止了这种商业捆绑关系，但这种关系在非洲国家仍然十分普遍。

In 2014 the Overseas Development Institute, a think-tank, estimated that if the average cost of sending money to Africa could be cut to 5%, it would mean $1.8 billion more for the continent every year.
在2014年，“英国海外发展研究所”智囊团预估，向非洲国家汇款时，假如能把平均手续费降低至5%，这就意味着非洲国家每年将会增加18亿存款。

Still, Mr Ratha is optimistic.
尽管如此，拉塔先生对此仍然抱有乐观心态。

Challengers to the banks and big money-transfer firms are popping up, particularly in London.
面对各大银行和大型汇款公司的垄断，众多挑战者不断涌现，尤其是在伦敦地区。

Flush with venture capital, they claim they can use technology to cut costs.
他们拥有充足的风险资本，并声称自己可以利用现有技术减免手续费。

TransferWise began as a peer-to-peer foreign-exchange service for the rich world; Taavet Hinrikus, one of its founders, says India is now the firm's fastest-growing destination.
TransferWise刚成立时只是一间在富裕国家里提供点对点外汇服务的公司。这间公司其中一位创始人 Taavet Hinrikus称，印度是目前公司业务发展最快的地区。

It plans to offer transfers to Mexico soon.
该公司很快将会计划把汇款业务拓展至墨西哥。

Sending money abroad is comparatively simple.
国外汇款相对简单。

The difficulty lies in getting the cash to spouses and parents in poor countries, who probably do not have bank accounts and may live a long way from a bank branch.
但问题在于身处贫困国家的妻子和父母怎样在没有银行账户或家离银行很远的情况下取款。

Big money-transfer outfits like MoneyGram and Western Union have hundreds of thousands of agents and thus a colossal advantage in the cash market.
诸如速汇金和西联汇款等大型汇款公司在世界各地拥有成千上百的代理商，从而在现金市场上占有庞大优势。

But Ismail Ahmed, of WorldRemit, an online transfer service, reckons the rapid growth of mobile money in places like Kenya, Somaliland and Zimbabwe is eroding this advantage.
然而网络汇款公司WorldRemit创始人Ismial Ahmed认为，移动货币在肯尼亚、索马里和津巴韦布等地方快速发展，导致这一优势不断遭到削弱。

Most of the money sent to Africa through WorldRemit goes to mobile accounts.
大部分经由WorldRemit转往非洲的款项都是通过移动账户转账的。

Technology can do less to tackle another problem.
然而现有技术难以解决另一个难题。

Anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism regulations are making banks reluctant to clear transfers to conflict- or crime-racked spots such as Somalia, which depends on remittances.
反洗钱和反恐怖主义的相关法规使得各大银行越来越不愿意在类似索马里等依赖汇款却又极易发生冲突和犯罪的地方开设转账服务。

“Derisking”, as this trend is known, is spreading to bigger countries.
这种称为“去风险化”的趋势不断扩散到其他大国。

Odilon Almeida of Western Union says this is bound to reduce competition and thus drive up prices.
西联汇款执行副主席Odilon Almeida称，这必然会减少竞争从而抬高手续费。

It is also, probably, pushing remittances into obscure and illegal channels, which is no good for anybody.
这有可能迫使人们通过秘密的非法渠道进行汇款，而对所有人来说，这种做法百害而无一利。