A remittance is money sent by an individual in the United States to recipients abroad.
An individual who sends a remittance of $15 or more is protected by certain federal disclosure requirements imposed on most businesses that provide the remittance transfer service.
Not all businesses that provide remittance transfer services are covered by the law. Only companies that provide more than 500 remittance transfers per year (“remittance transfer providers”) are required to comply with the law. Remittance transfer providers generally include money transmitter companies (such as Western Union), banks and credit unions, and many other types of financial services companies.
Remittance transfer providers that send remittances on behalf of customers are required to be regulated entities, either because they are banking organizations, or they are nonbank businesses that have state licenses as “money transmitters.” Almost all states now license and regulate non bank money transmitters. For your protection, you should use only a regulated bank or a licensed money transmitter to send your remittance. In either case, you should research the remittance transfer provider before you send any money using them.