When Patricio Bahena was a boy, he and his father used to trek up a hill hunting for mushrooms or firewood to take back to their family ranch 40 minutes away. Nearly 20 years later, Patricio is far away, living in Augusta, Georgia. His father still makes the walk up that hill alone to call Patricio, as it’s the only place he gets reliable phone service.
Every time his father calls, he asks Patricio: “Do you know where I am right now?” and they reminisce. Given the remote area where Patricio’s parents live—their ranch is two-and-a-half hours away from the closest city in Guerrero, Mexico—his father worried that when Patricio moved to the United States a decade ago, they’d never be able to talk.
Thanks to their favorite hill with phone reception, they do get to talk, regularly. And thanks to the Pangea Money Transfer app, it’s no longer complicated for Patricio to send money to Mexico to his father, in a remote area “where there are more animals than people.”
“My father goes up the hill at a certain time of the day to give me a call,” Patricio says, and “that’s when I come into action. In only two minutes, I’m able to send my transfer from my computer, or even better, my cell phone. I put my dad on speaker phone, and while he is telling me how he’s been, I send him money for his medicines.”
Patricio’s father finds the changes in technology amazing, considering back in his day, it was difficult to communicate with people at all, given where he lives. It’s a different story with Patricio’s children, who live in Moreles: “They just send me a text saying, ‘Papi, could you please help us out with our school uniforms or shoes?’”
Whether his family is hiking up a hill to find cell phone service or sending a quick text, it’s always the same easy process for Patricio. He simply signs in his Pangea account on his computer or phone, and in a couple of minutes, his online transfer is on its way to his dad or kids.
Patrico has tried other money transfer companies in the past, but he felt they were either too expensive, not safe, or too complicated. “I like Pangea because it is easy and fast,” he says. Now that he’s saving money with the flat fee of $4.95, he can send even more. “It is amazing to see when they receive a little bit more. That makes me so happy.”
Plus, “it’s something very exciting to see that my father is able to receive the money at his little ranch, thanks to Pangea!”
Looking for the fastest way to send money to your family in Mexico? Sign up for your free Pangea account to transfer online, like Patricio.
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