Money Transfer Trends In 2019

Remittances are an important lifeline in many developing countries. The term remittance refers to the transfer of money from one person to another. The traditional forms of money transfer include mail, draft, or check. However, advancements in technology have allowed remittances to be facilitated through wire transfer, electronic payments, or through secure and fast online portals.

In countries like India, where people often go abroad to pursue their professional dreams, they often transfer money to their family back in theme country. Remittance plays a major role in the financial aspects of such migrants. Furthermore, India is also one of the countries receiving the largest number of remittances. It is also treated as a means of payment for salaries, invoices or any other financial obligations.

A report by the 2019 Migration and Development Brief of the World Bank illustrates how remittances have increased by 9.6% in low-income and middle-income countries to $529 billion from $483 billion in 2017. Similarly, in high-income countries, remittances have risen from $633 billion in 2017 to $689 billion in 2018.

How Much Does Remittance Cost?

Remittances have the power to enhance the standard of living for people abroad and help combat global poverty. The most common method of money transfer has been the electronic payment system through a bank or money transfer service such as Western Union. However, these methods of remittance involve a small fee , but the transfers are executed in as little as ten minutes to reach the recipient.

Depending on your trusted source of money transfer, the fees vary as follows:

• Banks charge approximately 11% of the transaction in transfer fees.
• Post offices charge approximately 7-10% of the transaction in transfer fees.
• Remittance service providers charge a fixed amount depending on the countries and the value bracket of the transaction.
• Remittance comparison platforms list all the options to transfer money, and the user can choose the option which charges the least fee.

Through traditional methods of remittance, the fees were expensive to transfer a small sum of money. However, it is not the same anymore. Online transfer of money had

To highlight 2018 remittance reports from the World Bank, India (USD$79 billion), China (USD$67 billion), Mexico (USD$36 billion), the Philippines (USD$34 billion), and Egypt (USD$29 billion) were the highest recipients of remittance globally.

What Are The Advantages of Remitting Money Online?

With the progress of remittance from traditional to digital, there has been a significant upgrade in various other ways, making it the most trusted form of remittance. The advantages of remitting money include:

• Money transfer has gone mobile! A mobile application allows the user to send money to friends and family around the world with a single tap.
• Digital applications and platforms are equipped with multiple options for consumers to send money referred to as omnichannel money transfer and payment services.
• Mobile and web applications are linked to major banks and organizations. Therefore, they provide secure money transfers.
• As each transaction is conducted online, tracking your money transfers through text updates, email notifications, or active tracking on the application and website is available.
• Any global business can easily send international payments via money transfers, making businesses more profitable.

Although remitting money online is quick and convenient, one ought to be vigilant about protecting your remittance. Educate yourself about online security and follow these tips to stay protected while making online transactions.

Other Remittance Service Providers

Many remittance companies have shifted from traditional to technologically-powered futuristic means of providing remittance services. In fact, many companies like MoneyGram, PayPal, Walmart, and Western Union have made the shift in recent days by setting benchmarks in the online remittance community.

• MoneyGram recently expanded its global presence to include Asia Pacific (Hong Kong) and New Zealand in its fleet of 60+ countries. Additionally, the MoneyGram Plus Rewards program remits 60% of money transfer revenue from non-U.S. markets.
• PayPal’s money transfer arm, Xoom will now be available in Ireland alongside 130+ countries. Ireland makes up $2.5 billion of the $689 billion global remittance market. With Xoom, customers can send up to €25,000 in a single transaction.
• Xoom also partnered with Ria, a subsidiary of Euronet Worldwide which is a trusted remittance company. Now, customers of Xoom can access the 150,000+ Ria international network locations as pickup spots.
• Walmart partnered with MoneyGram (untill 2021) and Ria making international funds transfer possible at any one of the big-box retailer's stores.