International Migrants Day: WorldRemit Says Thank You

WorldRemit and third-party data shines a light on the significant contribution migrants make in their countries of residence and origin

LONDON, Dec. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading digital money transfer company WorldRemit is saying a big thank you to its hardworking, selfless and generous customers this International Migrants Day.

WorldRemit's UK transactions involve customers sending money to family and friends across Africa and Asia. The top three send locations for UK users are Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe. 

Migrant workers from non-EU countries make a positive net contribution to the UK of £28,000 per person and those from within the EU will contribute £78,000 more per person than they take out in public services and benefits over their time spent here.⁽¹⁾

Senders are often isolated from family and loved ones - only two-thirds have seen their children in the past two years and only 56% have seen their mother in the past two years. ⁽²⁾ They are more likely to send any spare money they have home than to spend it on themselves. They gift others continually throughout the year, not just at Christmas. 

Of those using WorldRemit to send money home:

• 68% agree that they feel proud to support their family and friends
• 65% agree that it gives them joy to financially support others
• 61% agree that sending money is their way of showing love 
• 57% agree that sending money home is their way of saying thank you ⁽³⁾

Remitters also play a critical role in terms of the social and economic development of their home markets, at a time when foreign direct investment into emerging markets is at an all-time low. Annual remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries reached $529 billion in 2018, an increase of 9.6 percent over the previous record high of $483 billion in 2017 ⁽⁴⁾ whilst FDI to these countries has been in decline since 2013. ⁽⁵⁾

Often the process of sending money home can be perfunctory, clinical and emotionless for the sender. WorldRemit wants to change this and is helping senders celebrate those moments of joy without the burden of complex bureaucracy or the challenge of finding somewhere convenient to send or receive money.  We are working hard to support these loyal, hardworking people, by providing a convenient, quick and secure platform for them to remit money at the best value for money. Our service offers senders savings of up to 48% off the cost to send $200 compared to most banks, and up to 22% compared to most money transfer operators based on World Bank data. ⁽⁶⁾

Research commissioned by WorldRemit shows that customers overwhelmingly rate WorldRemit's service over the traditional remittance providers across all measures tested, including transparency on costs, fairness of fees and offering the best freedom and flexibility when it comes to receive methods. 

Commenting, Tamer El-Emary, Chief Commercial Officer at WorldRemit, said:

"This International Migrants Day the UN is asking what a day without migrants would look like. Our research shows just how significant the financial gap would be in their countries of residence and origin if they weren't there to make their hardworking, selfless and generous contribution. We want to take this day, especially with a festive surge in remittances on the way, to say a big thank you to the senders we are proud to support with our service."

Case studies available on request.

About WorldRemit

Leading digital money transfer company WorldRemit has disrupted an industry previously dominated by offline legacy players, such as Western Union, by taking international money transfers online - making them more convenient, safer, faster and lower-cost. Our users currently send money from over 50 countries to recipients in over 150 countries across the world. We offer our service in 6,500 money transfer corridors and employ over 800 people worldwide.

On the sending side WorldRemit is 100% digital (cashless), increasing convenience and enhancing security. We offer a wide range of payout options to recipients including bank deposit, cash collection, mobile airtime top-up and mobile money.

Backed by Accel, TCV and Leapfrog – early investors in Facebook, Netflix and Slack – WorldRemit's headquarters are in London, UK with a global presence including offices in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.

Sources

1. The Fiscal Impact of Immigration on the UK. Oxford Economics, June 2018 
2. WorldRemit online Customer Survey. Carried out between 22 March – 26 May 2019, among customers who send to the Philippines, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico or Colombia
3. Ipsos Mori WorldRemit Customer Survey 2019
4. Migration and Development Brief, 8th April 2019, The World Bank
5. Foreign direct investment decreased in 2016, 13th August 2018, The World Bank
6. Comparison based on the average cost to send using data sourced from The World Bank for Q3 2019. Remittance Prices Worldwide, The World Bank

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1055771/WorldRemit_Logo.jpg