Editing Informal value transfer system (section)

==History==

An informal value transfer system is an alternative and unofficial remittance and banking system, that pre-dates current day modern banking systems. The systems were established as a means of [[Settlement (finance)|settling accounts]] within villages and between villages. It existed as far back as over 4000 years ago and even more.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ancient Languages: Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet |url=http://crockerartmuseum.org/about/resources/striking-gold/item/ancient-languages-sumerian-cuneiform-tablet |website=[[Crocker Art Museum]] |accessdate=19 November 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106044445/https://crockerartmuseum.org/about/resources/striking-gold/item/ancient-languages-sumerian-cuneiform-tablet |archivedate=6 January 2014 |quote=Click on 'context' tab to view relevant details |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Cuneiform tablet: account of barley and date disbursements, Ebabbar archive |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/325270 |website=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |accessdate=19 November 2020}}</ref>

Their use as global networks for financial transactions spread as expatriates from the original countries settled abroad. Today, IVTS operations are found in most countries. Depending on the ethnic group, IVTS are called by a variety of names including, for example, ''[[hawala]]'' (Middle East, Afghanistan, Indian Sub-Continent); ''[[Flying cash|fei ch’ien]]'' (飞钱 or "flying money"; China); ''phoe kuan'' (Thailand);<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sandhu |first1=Harjit |title=Terrorism-Criminal Nexus Non-banking Conduits |url=https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/0/8/27981.pdf#page=7 |website=[[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]] |accessdate=19 November 2020 |date=11 March 2004}}</ref> and ''Black Market Peso Exchange'' (South America).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zill |first1=Oriana |last2=Bergman |first2=Lowell |authorlink2=Lowell Bergman |title=Frontline Special Report: drug wars {{mdash}} the Black Peso Money Laundering System |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/special/blackpeso.html |website=[[Frontline (American TV program)|Frontline]] |publisher=[[PBS]] |accessdate=19 November 2020}}</ref>

Individuals or groups engaged in operating IVTS may do so on a full-time, part-time, or ad hoc basis. They may work independently, or as part of a multi-person network. IVTS are based on [[Trust (sociology)|trust]]. In general, operators usually don't misappropriate the funds entrusted to them.<ref>{{cite web |title=Next Door Neighbors: Somali {{mdash}} Money Transfer |url=https://ndn.wnpt.org/documentaries/somali/money-transfer/ |website=[[WNPT (TV)|Nashville Public Television]] |accessdate=19 November 2020 |archive-date=23 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123213757/https://ndn.wnpt.org/documentaries/somali/money-transfer/ |url-status=dead }}<!-- url updated from https://web.archive.org/web/20140106034358/http://www.wnpt.org/productions/nextdoorneighbors/somali/money.html --></ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hersman |first1=Erik |authorlink1=Erik Hersman |title=Hawala Tech and Banks in Somalia |url=http://whiteafrican.com/2010/10/03/hawala-tech-and-banks-in-somalia/ |website=WhiteAfrican |accessdate=19 November 2020 |date=3 October 2010}}</ref>