Press Release: International Remittances Sent via Mobile Handsets to Reach $55 billion in 2016 as Service Use Rises Across Key Migration Corridors
Hampshire,
UK - 8th December 2011: A new report from Juniper Research has found that
nearly $55 billion in international remittances will be enabled via mobile
devices in 2016, up from less than $12 billion this year.
Growth is
currently being led by mobile remittances sent across established migration
corridors such as the US-Mexico and intra-regional transfers across Africa and
the Middle East, as migrant workers send money back home from foreign countries.
However, substantial inter/intra-regional activity from and within Western
Europe will see this region account for the largest remittance volumes by the
end of the forecast period.
Touchscreens, Apps to Fuel Medium Term
Growth?
The report
- Mobile Money Transfer & Remittances: Business Models & Monetisation
Opportunities - also highlights the opportunity presented in the medium term by
the "trickle-down" of smartphone features and functionality into mass market feature
phones, such as touchscreen interfaces, apps and Internet access.
According
to report author Dr Windsor Holden, "In markets with low literacy levels, money
transfer applications on the handset based around easily recognisable icons may
gain a far wider usage than services based around text-based menus."
Need for regulatory engagement
According
to the report, service deployments are expected to gain impetus with the
increased utilisation of multilateral hubs between MNOs and third parties,
which connect both sending and receiving channels on a single platform. This in
turn reduces the time to deployment, as each MNO is required to connect to a
hub only once to send/receive remittances and does not have to spend additional
time on agreements.
However,
the report cautioned that the lack of regulatory engagement with service
providers in many jurisdictions continues to inhibit service deployment and
adoption of both domestic and international remittance services.
Other findings from
the report include:
- Service providers should introduce lower commission rates and flexible pricing structures to generate greater service uptake.
- Potential service users are being deterred in many markets by limited or poorly trained local agent networks.
The whitepaper, "Moving Money Via
Mobile", is available to
download from the Juniper website together with further details of the full report.
Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the
global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports
and industry commentary.
Jess
Hanslip
Juniper Research
T: +44(0)1256 830 001
E: jess.hanslip@juniperresearch.com
Author
Related Reports
- Mobile Money Transfer & Remittances - Business Models & Monetisation Opportunities 2011-2016
- Mobile Money Transfer & Remittances Interactive Forecast Suite - Business Models & Monetisation Opportunities 2011-2016
- The Mobile Remittance Briefing 2011-2016
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