The BCR’s interbank operations system served 67.9 per cent of market operations in 2023.
Salvadorans sent more than $2.18 million per hour during 2023 through the Transfer365 interbank transfer system, operated by the Central Reserve Bank (BCR).
In its work report of 2023, the BCR notes that since the launch of Transfer365, in June 2021, it became the system – most used and preferred by the population.
According to the BCR, Transfer365 had a 67.9 per cent share in interbank operations carried out in 2023 in relation to private sector systems, worth $15,441.9 million. The money sent last year increased by 59 per cent from the balance of 2022.
The Central Bank reports that $2.18 million is shipped, at least $36,330 per minute in 34 operations, each hour.
Similarly, the BCR records that 46 out of 100 ordered operations are carried out by women. It has generated $39.94 million in savings for the Salvadoran population, by not paying commissions for interbank transfers, he said in his document.
Alternative on holidays
The recall adds that 23.5 percent of operations were performed on weekends or days of rest throughout 2023, totalling $984.9 million. December was the month with the highest activity, with more than $2 billion sent by Salvadorans.
Transfer365 entered to compete with UNI, a system run by ACH, whose operation is subject to fixed hours, while the state platform operates every day. On the market are also the transfer systems of each bank, but they basically only allow between the accounts of the same institution.
Also, the state platform differed because it included cooperative banks and savings and credit companies. Users can perform operations such as paying suppliers, planbarn, credit cards or loans.
In June 2022, the BCR also launched Transfer365 Business, intended for accountants or entrepreneurs making transfers of something of value. At the close of 2023, this platform liquidated more than $8,556.5 million with 65,158 transfers made by pension funds, bond investors, payments to suppliers, autonomous institutions and contractors.
In addition, in July 2023 it presented Transfer365 CA-RD, a cross-border system in real time that in the last half of last year served 1,254 regional income transfers of $16.18 million and 9,543 of exits for $99.41 million.
This article has been translated after first appearing in Diario El Mundo
El Salvador’s international trade shows benefited more than 50 small entrepreneurs
The fairs benefited more than 50 micro, small and medium-sized Salvadoran entrepreneurs, according to the government.
The Salvadoran entrepreneurs’ fairs held in different parts of the world left sales of more than $25,000 in the past year, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The report of work published by the Chancellery reveals that, between June 2023 and May 2024, five fairs were held where 50 Salvadoran entrepreneurs based abroad were called.
The fairs were promoted in Italy, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras and Colombia.
The last one was held in April of this year, in Bogotá, Colombia. The government said that at that time a negotiating space was provided for 43 entrepreneurs from Central America and the Dominican Republic, of this portion 16 were Salvadorans.
The spaces are managed by the Chancellery and, according to the institution, hope to create opportunities, and strengthen the economy of the diaspora and the links with El Salvador.
In these temporary markets the diaspora offers varied products ranging from gastronomy and jewelry to handicrafts.
Salvadoran entrepreneurs abroad have also added marketing houses in the last year. According to the government, at least six were established during this period, specifically in Italy, the United States, Costa Rica and Honduras.
Investment
The document shared by the government shows that over the past year $3.8 million was made in investment, from the diaspora, for tourism projects, as well as related to coffee, tour operators and the agricultural sector, through the advice of the Foreign Ministry.
These enterprises, in turn, have begun to employ skilled labour in the destination communities, the government said in the work memory.
Last May, the Chancellery revealed that in the last five years it channeled more$268 million in foreign investment,focused on sectors such as manufacturing, food, beverage and tourism production.
The government notes that since June 2023, six new directors of entrepreneurs and diaspora professionals, based in Spain, Italy, Mexico, the United States and Belize, have been created.
The Foreign Ministry said that these kinds of initiatives seek to create value chains and promote the country.
To date, the directors bring together more than 650 identified entrepreneurs.
This article has been translated after first appearing in Diario El Mundo