How COVID-19 is changing remittances

With this Spring’s global lockdown highlighting the health and logistical challenges of cash transfers abroad, digital remittances have been seen by many as a lifeline.

The cross-border remittance industry is at an inflexion point of rapid digital transformation thanks to the exponential growth of mobile phone and data connectivity, pricing availability and changing customer expectations on convenience and speed of international money transfers. Remitly’s digital money transfer platform minimizes customer friction and makes the process of sending money internationally faster, easier, more transparent, and less costly while maintaining the strongest anti-fraud practices in the industry.

Recently, PayU solidified its commitment to the remittances sector by doubling down on our investment in Remitly, which transfers over $4 billion in annualised volume from its customers in the US, UK and Canada to loved ones globally. While global remittances are projected to decline by 20 percent in 2020 due to the economic crisis, Remitly has seen 200 percent new customer growth year-over-year.

Remittances in times of COVID-19

In Episode 2 of PayU’s new Fintech Alphabet series, PayU CEO Laurent Le Moal talks to Matt Oppenheimer, Co-Founder and CEO of Remitly, as well as Michael Kent, Founder and Executive Chairman at Azimo, about how the remittances sector is responding to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Watch the full episode above.