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for some more interesting reading check out Hawala: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala It is an informal value transfer sy
by TrevorJ 14y ago
for some more interesting reading check out Hawala: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala
It is an informal value transfer system used primarily in the Middle East and Africa.
- mikeash 14y agoThat is definitely interesting, thanks for the link. Seems like a whole different sort of financial system than what we're used to in developed nations.
- eddie_the_head 14y agoHawala has been operating primarily for remittances to family back home for decades in the West.
- delinka 14y agoIt's important to note that hawala is indeed informal. So informal, that if you get screwed by someone attempting to scam the system, you have no [legal] recourse. It's probably best if you're social network already includes an existing hawala broker.
- hasenj 14y agoAs a person of middle eastern origin, I don't understand what the big deal is .. Is there really no such thing in the west? Isn't "Western Union" essentially the same?
- TrevorJ 14y agoI am not sure it is a big deal, other than that it is relatively unknown here, and the mindset here tends to be that financial transactions need some kind of monolithic centralized authority to be involved.
- mikeash 14y agoIt's the informality that I find interesting. WU is definitely not the same in that regard.
- DanBC 14y agoPeople of some religions (notably Islam) have trouble with traditional money and banking services because riba is forbidden. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_banking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_banking)