Remittance players see continued slower growth in Q3 2022
Leading remittance players have continued to experience slowing growth across their consumer money transfer revenues in Q3 2022. MoneyGram, Euronet, Intermex and Remitly all reported increased revenues, while Western Union saw a YoY decline due to headwinds such as the Russia/Ukraine war and its subsequent suspension of operations in Russia and Belarus.
Western Union saw digital money transfer revenues decline 12% and transactions by 20%, but also spoke about its new digital customer acquisition model in the US showing returns. Digital money transfer represented 24% of total C2C revenues and 34% of transactions in the quarter. Prior to the new model, Western Union hadn’t seen positive new digital customer growth in North America in over a year.
Euronet, which owns money transfer players Ria and XE, saw some growth in its money transfer segment at 3% (a decline from Q3 21’s 9%) but the company also reported double-digit transaction growth on US and international-initiated transfers, as well as 40% growth in direct-to-consumer digital transfers.
Digital-focused Remitly, meanwhile, has continued to build a strong customer base, with the number of active quarterly customers increasing 49% to 3.8 million, but questions remain as to how Remitly will convert that loyalty into profitability. The company has seen both net losses and operating expenses rise YoY, though net losses have declined quarter-on-quarter.
Meanwhile, Intermex’s revenue growth stemmed from an 8.8% increase in its number of active agents and an 11.4% rise in the company’s number of active unique customers, which grew to three million. In addition, Intermex saw its number of money transfer transactions increase again, this time by 16% to 12.2 million – a record for its remittances business.
Moneygram’s total growth was just 1%, largely due to the ongoing strength of the dollar, but it saw success in its digital offering. MoneyGram online increased 13% YoY to $52.9m and its cross-border online revenue and transactions increased 17% and 15% respectively.
Macroeconomic headwinds have affected remittance players across the sector, whether it be the ongoing effects of the Russia/Ukraine war and related business suspensions or currency fluctuations in the face of the dollar’s strength, but companies have found some avenues of success.
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