Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Remittances: a massive market snubbed by the banks

Chris Skinner Author Avatar
by
Remittances markets

I recently joined my friends at Anthemis – the guys
investing in Fidor, Simple and Moven – for a chat.

They gave me a nice leaflet on the trends in remittances
which I thought worth sharing with y’all, as it’s a great read with many useful
charts and stats.

The first chart shows the growth of remittances …

Remittances markets

… with the World Bank estimating that remittances are
growing at 11% CAGR from $234 billion in 2004 to $534 billion in 2012, growing
to $685 billion by 2015.

That does not take account of the informal remittances market
however, such as Hawala, which some estimate would add a further 40% of funds value to this
marketplace.

It’s not surprising that the market is so effervescent when
over 200 million people work in a country they weren’t born in, and over 40 million
immigrants in the USA alone in 2010, accounting for 13% of the population (up
from 11% in 2000).

It is also a market that is seeing big changes thanks to
mobile money transfer, even though costs are still high with an average fee of
9% or higher to make a transfer.  This is
down to the domination of the two largest players Western Union and MoneyGram,
who own 20% of the global market.

Western Union’s revenues for 2011 were $5.5 billion,
driven by 510,000 agent locations. MoneyGram’s revenues were $1.2 billion in
2011, with 284,000 agent locations.  Ria,
a subsidiary of Euronet, came third with $244.7 million revenues in 2010 and
107,000 agents.

America is the top remittance sending country, with $52
billion of outbound remittances in 2011. 
India is the top receiving country, with $70 billion received in 2012
(estimate) although Tajikistan is the top receiver based upon percentage of
GDP.  47% of Tajikistan’s GDP is based upon
remittances received.

There’s a load more in there, with two great infographics
in the centrefold, but it’s notable that this is all taking place as HSBC and Barclays close down their money transfer network support due to money laundering (I said
they would do this three years ago).

A further drive into Hawala and informal transfers, or an
opportunity for a new mobile money transfer system?

Anyways, here are the two infographics from Anthemis (doubleclick image to enlarge).

Remittances1

Remittances2

 

 Here's the full newsletter btw, and you can download it too!

Trends in Remittances, June 2013 [The Anthemis Newsletter] by anthemisgroup

PaymentsCategories
Chris Skinner Author Avatar

Chris M Skinner

Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...

Intelligent Money - Chris Skinner Keynote @ Pay 360 conference 2024

What is the future?

Learn more

Learn more about Chris

About Chris Skinner

The Past, Present And Future Of Banking, Finance And Technology

Fintech expert Chris Skinner: countries need digital transformation to remain competitive

Join me on Linkedin

Follow Me on X!

Hire Chris Skinner for dinners, workshops and more

Learn directly from from one of the most influential people in technology, gain insights from the world's most innovative companies, and build a global network.

Chris’s latest book

Chris Skinner’s ‘Digital For Good’ Book Launch Event – CFTE

Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on FinTech 2023

Chris Skinner
Commentator, CEO of The Finanser and best-selling author at The Finanser

Thinkers360 Thought Leader

Contact Me

Global Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award

Global 100 - 2024 Winner

Chris Skinner - Financial Markets Advisor of the Year - The Finanser - UK 2023

Best Financial Markets Advisor of the Year 2023

30 Best Regtech Blogs and Websites 2023

Kids creating the future bank | TEDxAthens

Captain Cake and the Candy Crew

Captain Cake Winner of a Golden Mom’s Choice Award

TWO-TIME WINNER OF A MOM’S CHOICE GOLD AWARD!

Alex at the Financial Services

Gaping Void's Hugh MacLeod worked with the Finanser