Global money transfer trends revealed

Ahead of the first ever World Money Transfer Day on Sunday 15 March 2015, research from online money transfer service Azimo revealed the latest trends in how people choose to send their money abroad.

Highlights of the research include:

• Customers believe that 2.4 per cent is a ‘fair’ fee to charge for a money transfer*

• Banks are still the most popular way overall to send money abroad (31 per cent)

o Amongst younger people aged 18-34 the trend was to use banks (36 per cent), online (26 per cent) and the high street (18 per cent)

• Eight percent of 18-24 year olds have used a mobile phone to make a money transfer, compared to less than 1 per cent of over 55s.

World Money Transfer Day is the brainchild of serial fintech entrepreneur Michael Kent and former British government minister Dame Tessa Jowell MP, who has been campaigning to cut the cost to Londoners of sending money abroad. They launched a petition at www.stopthetransfertax.com.

Azimo enables users to send money online from across the UK and EU to over 190 countries and has pledged that it’ll reduce all fees to every country to £0 fees on World Money Transfer Day (15 March 2015), as well as 0 per cent commission on exchange rates.

What is ‘Fair’?

85 per cent of people using money transfers would not be willing to pay more than £4 to send money abroad while they deemed to be a ‘fair’ fee to be around 2.4 per cent.

However, global corporations such as Western Union, MoneyGram and high street banks who dominate the industry, currently charge on average 8-10 per cent on money transfers and in some corridors over 20 per cent.

Data from Azimo’s online service shows that the percentage of transactions sent from a mobile device more than doubled in the previous 12 months to January 2015.

According to The World Bank, money transfers support the welfare of an estimated 700 million people globally. Azimo data shows that family support remains the number one reason for customer sending money (over 70 per cent). Other notable reasons were Education, up from 3 per cent in January 2014 to 8 per cent in 2015 and Charitable Donations, which rose from 2 per cent to 5 per cent over the same period.

Reaction

Michael Kent, CEO of Azimo, commented on the data: “It’s no surprise that the younger generation are using technology to send money overseas: online and mobile payments are only going to become more popular as people become more aware that they’re super easy, low cost, fast and secure. We want to help our customers of all ages become more savvy about how they send money abroad and prevent them from being ripped off by the traditional high-street players.”

Tessa Jowell has pledged her support to the campaign: “Millions of people in London and across the world send money overseas to people they love, but today too many are paying too much in exorbitant fees and charges to support their families. We need to spread a simple message – people don’t have to be ripped off.”

Post published in: Business

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