The decision by Barclays Bank to pull out of the money transfer business in the UK gave The Guardian newspaper an opportunity to do an interactive story that throw the spotlight on the industry behind the multibillion-dollar flow of migrants' money globally.
While most media outlets in the UK like London Evening Standard merely went with the story of British Olympic champion runner Mo Farah, who came to Britain from Mogadishu at the age of eight, leading a petition against the move, The Guardian did a comprehensive data driven story that focused on the billions of pounds sent by migrants to friends and family back home, globally. The newspaper developed an interactive map that explores the flow of the money and takes a deeper look at the impact of remittances in particular countries including Ghana and Liberia using World Bank data.
To drive home the message that many developing countries now heavily rely on remittances, the story focuses on Somalia, a country that has no formal banking system and relies on remittances for a significant portion of its national income.
The story includes a table which shows the average cost of sending money from the UK to 15 selected countries.
It engages the readers through an interactive page where the readers can share their experiences of sending money home.
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