The need to reform electronic money transfer regulations

All over the world, every day, millions of financial transactions take place at the press of a button. The words—and now the verbs—PayPal, TranferWise, and Venmo, are to payments what WhatsApp and Facebook are to messaging. Modern electronic money transfer (EMT) services have lowered transaction costs for individuals, facilitated business growth through e-commerce, and made payments a whole lot easier for everyone—except Lebanese. Like most other services in Lebanon that lag behind the modern world—read: electricity, water, healthcare, transport, internet, etc.—the reason EMT services have not developed to their full potential in Lebanon is not an issue of competence or capacity; instead, narrow-minded protectionism and years of market dominance mean Lebanese pay what, in 2019, can only be called extortionate amounts to make payments.  Opportunity, not threat Using available EMT services, Lebanese can expect to pay anywhere from $15 to $35 to send $500 to someone abroad. In addition to