According to a press release from Visa on Tuesday (March 21), 53% of these customers use digital apps to send and receive money internationally, compared to 34% who visit a physical bank or branch, 12% who mail cash, checks, or money orders, and 11% who give money to someone who is visiting their home country.
The industry can still do more to make streamlined remittances accessible to more migrant workers and their families who rely on these lifeline payments to do everything from pay for food, education, or even unforeseen medical costs, according to Ruben Salazar, global head of Visa Direct. “This new research shows the incredible acceleration of digital payments, but there is still more the industry can do,” Salazar said in the release.
According to the press release, concerns with exchange rate calculation were mentioned by 37% of senders in Singapore and 38% of senders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) respectively. Fees that are too high were another issue that customers confront on the send side.
Nonetheless, a sizable portion of remittance customers believes that app-based digital payments are the safest way to send money abroad. According to the release, 61% of Singaporeans employ just digital means since they are simple to use and secure.
The study discovered that customer behavior toward sending and receiving cross-border payments is driven by their need for cost and ease.
Consumer interest in payment service providers (PSPs) that provide substitutes for conventional remittance payment methods may increase as a result of customers looking to avoid exorbitant costs and protracted processing periods.
