Makeshift Magazine – Hawala, Moving Billions:

Writer Philippa Young (@_philippayoung_)’s article Thin Wire in the quarterly magazine Makeshift (@MkShftMag) describes Hawala.  Excerpts:

“Hawala, hundi, chiti, chop, and dozens of other names describe a system that moves billions of dollars across grey and black markets, faster and cheaper than your local bank.”
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“Before insurance and high-speed travel, moving large amounts of bullion by sea or camel-led caravan was not only slow but also incredibly risky. The answer? Never move the money.”
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“In its infancy, hawala created a safe and smooth journey for long-distance merchants, facilitating the first movements of globalized trade. Fast-forward a few hundred years, and hawala has a less celebrated reputation.”
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“For families in developing countries supported by diaspora relatives, hawala is a lifeline.”
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“Hawala is recordless. With just a name and telephone number, you can transfer thousands of dollars across continents.”
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“Just one month from now, First Somali Bank will launch a system to allow diaspora communities of Minnesota and London to send remittances from their mobile phones directly to a recipient’s debit card in Somalia— signs of attempts to formalize hawala’s informal success.”
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“The system differs from neighboring Kenya’s M-PESA system in that the money goes directly into the recipient’s bank account. Each person becomes his or her own hawaladar.”
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“If money makes the world go round, then hawala is the undervalued engine coughing out a cloak of grey-black smoke.”

 – http://mkshft.org/2013/07/thin-wire
 – http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=248744.0 (Further discussion of the article)

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