NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Ajay Jagannath

For many centuries humans have been travelling the globe and with these travels has come the need to move money safely, cheaply and efficiently. Today, there are many people who move abroad in search of better work opportunities and the means to support family members back home. These migrants require a reliable, affordable and convenient channel to send the money they earn in the country of employment home to their families. In financial services industry parlance, this is a ‘remittance’.

According to the World Bank, the total size of the international remittance market is around US$600 billion and is increasingly becoming an important use case for cross-border payments. Not only due to the sheer size of the business case remittances represent, but also because of the significant impact they can have on the receiving countries. The majority of the 250 million migrants who send money are relatively poor and so are their families.

Photo courtesy of Anaya Katlego.