Cross-border money transfers are an essential part of the global economy. The developing countries for instance, have benefited greatly from enhanced remittance inflows. Over the recent past, the remittance scene has experienced some major transformations that includethe emergence of mobile money remittance and online money transfers.
These inventions and enhancements have been critical to the success of the service. Remittance is an ever-evolving platform and statistics show that new trends are bound to rise over the coming year. With 2018 just around the corner, there are a number of key trends that can be expected in the sector.
Mobile money remittances
A rising trend that is sure to be one of the key trends in remittances in 2018 is the use of mobile money. Before the advent of cross-border mobile to mobile money remittance, international transfers were a rather cumbersome process. It would always require the sender of the money to travel to a money transfer location where they would be required to give the proper sending details. They would then give the money to the agent or bank and let them handle the rest.
The receiver on the other hand would be required to travel to the reception location and provide details that conform to those given by the sender. The entire process was expensive and would often last pretty long. Mobile money remittance services, however, address most of these issues, which is why it has been projected to be a key trend in 2018.
The first issue that mobile money addresses is the one of travelling to a sending or receiving retail location. With mobile money, you can send the money from anywhere at any time and the receiver will also receive it anywhere. This helps cut down on the amount of time and money that you may have otherwise used to travel to the transfer retail location.
There is also the matter of faster transfers. Most of the mobile money remittance services provide for immediate remittance. The recipient receives the money as soon as it is sent. This saves both parties from the long wait times.
As can be seen, mobile money remittance has quite a number of benefits and is therefore one of the best remittance options. It is fast gaining traction in the money transfer sector and is definitely bound to be a key trend in remittance in 2018. Due to the vast benefits of the service and the fact that a large number of people own mobile phones, the service has become a popular option in the global scene. Many people are resorting to the use of mobile money services for remittance.
Online money transfer services
Although online money transfer services have been around for quite a while now and the service is still popular around the world. In addition to playing a significant role in remittances, these money transfer services have several benefits which explains why they are still a popular option in the sector. Besides being fast, online money remittance is also beneficial due to its affordable costs, the convenience it provides in sending and receiving as well as transparency.
Online services provide you with full details of making a transfer that includes the costs of the transfers and the exchange rates for cases in which currency needs to be changed. This allows you to budget properly before making a transfer. These money transfers can also be made from anywhere at any time which offers convenience to both the sender and receiver. Although different money transfer services offer different rates – and these can sometimes be quite high – these rates are usually still more affordable than making a bank transfer.
Since the advantages of online money services are many, it is likely to be a key trend in remittance in the coming years. Several people will adopt the use of online money to make international transfers.
Partnerships
In as much as mobile and online remittances have streamlined the entire remittance sector, the importance of banks and other financial institutions to the sector and the economy at large is significant. The role that banks and these other institutions play in remittance can thus not be ignored. A key trend that is most likely to be observed in remittance in 2018 is a partnership of the service providers operating in the international transfers sector.
Mobile money operators will come together with online money service providers to enhance remittance. This will as a result make it possible for the sender to send online and the recipient to receive via the mobile phone. Banks will also form partnerships with both online and mobile money service providers to enable users to deposit money into and withdraw money from bank accounts while interfacing the transactions with mobile and online money services.
There are several other trends that one can expect to witness in 2018, however, the above are some of the most prominent.
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