Hawala or hewala (Arabic,meaning transfer or sometimes trust)

also known as havaleh in Persian, or hundi or—in Somali, xawala or xawilaad—is a popular and informal value transfer system based not on the movement of cash, or on telegraph or computer network wire transfers between banks, but instead on the performance and honour of a huge network of money brokers (known as "hawaladars"). While hawaladars are spread throughout the world, they are primarily located in the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Indian subcontinent, operating outside of, or parallel to, traditional banking, financial channels, and remittance systems.