UNITED STATES-BASED Remitly said on Wednesday it is targeting to increase its share of the Philippine remittance market from 16 percent to 40 percent by 2022 as it aggressively expands its money- transfer operations worldwide.
“The market [here] is growing [by] about 8 percent a year,” Remitly VP for Global Business Development Gene Nigro told reporters in a sideline interview during their press briefing in Ortigas. “The online market is growing at triple digits. We hope to have about half of that market in the next four years.”
He noted they want to serve more Filipino communities worldwide by enabling them to send money back home via their very own mobile app that is capable of making the fund transfer process faster, easier, more transparent and less costly by eliminating the forms, codes, agents, extra time and fees typical of traditional channels.
This, he added, will be complemented by their effort to double the number of countries to cater to in the next two years to three years.
“Right now, we cover about 47 countries. [We target] at least to do 100, but they have to be profitable countries,” Nigro said.
Remitly started in 2011 its first remittance service for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and immigrants in the United States to send money to the Philippines.
The company has since expanded globally to help OFWs in Australia and Canada. It will soon expand to 11 new markets across Europe.
To date, the biggest independent digital remittance firm in North America has reached $6 billion in annualized volume through its global money-transfer platform. More than $2 billion has so far been sent to the Philippines.
The local areas that receive money through Remitly include Cavite, Cebu, Bulacan, Davao del Sur, Negros Occidental, Laguna, Rizal, Metro Manila, Pampanga and Pangasinan. Its disbursement network includes all of the top banks in the country and over 10,000 cash pickup locations across the nation.
Its featured partners are Banco de Oro, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Metrobank, Philippine National Bank, M Lhuillier, Cebuana Lhuillier and LBC. Also part of this roster are SM Department Store, Globe, Villarica Pawnshop, Palawan Pawnshop, and Bayad Center, to name a few.
Recently, Remitly tied up with financial-technology firm, Stripe, to help more Filipino communities overseas, particularly in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Nigro said the average monthly remittance sent to the Philippines is $270 and that Filipinos abroad send about 13 times a year.
Over $9 million has been saved by customers in transfer fees on average compared to competitors. This is for transactions of cash pickup to the Philippines using a debit card for the average amount of $300.
The Philippines, India and Mexico are the top three recipients of remittance from abroad coursed through Remitly’s platform. Each market accounts for 20 percent of the yearly volume.
“That was the strategy: To focus first on the big markets. And now we’re going to the second tier markets,” the top executive said, while referring to Indonesia and Vietnam, whose remittance sectors are valued at $10 billion and $20 billion, respectively.