Tempo Money Transfer: EU remittances market exceeded $135 billion in 2015

The European Union's remittances market demonstrated a 15-percent growth, to exceed $135 billion in

volume, the France-based international service provider Tempo Money Transfer reported.

In its market overview, the Paris-headquartered operator said that in spite of global economic turmoil, the

demand for remittances has been on the rise.

“The segment’s main indicators are directly proportional to the gap between difference in life standards in

different countries – including not only outside the EU, but also within the European Union,” said the

president for Tempo, Mr. Jeffrey Phaneuf.

He also said that the second factor to largely influence the market, is the number of working migrants

residing in the EU.

“We have noticed an interesting trend that also effects the market very much. The proportion of working

migrants in the remittances demand structure has grown from 78 percent to nearly 85 percent [in the EU]

within a one year period,” Mr. Phaneuf said, “It is a very large increase, demonstrating how fast the

number of migrants in Europe is increasing.”

He said also that the ratio may grow even further in 2016, since the number of migrants keeps growing.”

The EU’s Top 5 segments remained the UK, Germany and France. These main donor countries generate

$35 billion, $31 billion and $29 billion correspondently. These states are followed by Italy and Spain

according to Tempo Money Transfer's reporting.

Top country recipients include Slovak Republic and Lithuania (over $2 billion per annum each), Romania

and Czech Republic (nearly $3 billion each), and Poland with the highest inflow volume of over $7.6

billion.

“Speaking of the main corridors where money is sent” Mr. Phaneuf said that “some 35 percent of EU-

generated transfers are sent to European countries (within EU and outside of EU), 33 percent – to Asia

and over 20 percent to Africa. This balance has not changed much”, said the president for Tempo,

“however it is very difficult to predict how the situation will change in 2016.”

He went on to say that Tempo’s experts expect the market growth rates to be even higher, by up to 20

percent this year.

“This is due to a serious increase in the number of economically active people moving to the EU.”

At the same time Mr. Phaneuf sees the market more competitive.

“It is becoming more and more competitive not only because of growing service standards, but also

because service providers actively implement new options widening its product range, looking for new

sales channels.

The new products include remote bill payments and topping up cell operators globally.

“We look at the 2016 EU remittances market very positively. It is going to be one of the most dynamic

segments of the economy, while outbound EU transactions are going to increase their share in all other

money transfer corridors,” he said about current year possibilities in the development of the market.

Tempo Money Transfer operates 180 locations being present in over 100 countries. One of the

components in its mission, is to make rates more affordable to clients, and bring the funds into the

regulated area, internationally.

Terra launches Pulse to improve quality of remittance reporting

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• –  Assists financial authorities gain more accurate and deeper insights into remittance flows and design appropriate policies to drive industry growth
  
• –  Single source of transactions lowers reporting overheads for smaller remittance service providers on the Terra network
  Lagos, Nigeria – February 03, 2016: Terra, a mobile-first international payment network, incubated by Mahindra Comviva, today, announced the launch of Terra Pulse to help financial authorities and regulators accurately measure mobile-powered international remittances.
  In developing countries, migrant remittances equal US$440 billioni, a figure three times higher than the volume of official aid flows. From a macro-perspective, cross-border transfers are vital in terms of economic stability generated by the receipt of large capital inflows as well as in terms of overall development potential.
  According to the World Bank, less than two-thirds of African countries, however, report data on remittances. For regulators, the ability to reliably track, monitor and measure remittance flows is essential to obtain meaningful insights on market trends and define appropriate growth-oriented policies for the industry. Most economies encounter several challenges in capturing and reporting remittance data, making it less reliable than other line constituents in the balance of payment accounts. Remittance data is fragmented and needs to be federated from multiple service providers, corridors and touch points. The complexity is compounded by the existence of disparate data sources, the use of proprietary data formats, the lack of standardized compilation models as well as varying levels of reporting granularity.
  Terra provides the rails for international transfers by interconnecting digital wallet service providers, foreign exchange houses and remittance companies. As a regulated entity, Terra maintains an audit trail of all inbound and outbound transactions processed by its network. Central regulators and financial reporting agencies benefit from a single view of transactions originating or leaving their respective countries, with an option to obtain a drill down view at a per corridor, partner and customer level. The reporting frequency and range of reports can be customized, based on each country’s requirements.
  Commenting on Terra Pulse, Ambar Sur, Founder and CEO Terra, said, “In the next three years, the mobile would emerge as the dominant channel for cross-border transfers. Terra is defining the standards for mobile-powered international payments. The problem associated with data compilation is real, and no country has found a perfect solution. Terra addresses the need for a reliable data source by enforcing network-wide standards for counting, data compilation and reporting. This would go a long way towards understanding the nature and quantity of flows and maximizing the developmental impact of remittances.”
  Terra Pulse, additionally, exposes APIs to enable partners, in particular smaller, local remittance companies, comply with in-country reporting regulations as well as understand performance trends,
• without the need for additional investments in expensive reporting and analytic tools. Terra Pulse can scale to handle high volumes of transactions whilst maintaining data integrity.
  About Terra
  Terra, a mobile-first international payment network, has been founded with the vision to send money to any mobile.
  Terra interconnects financial services providers -- mobile wallet service providers, money transfer operators, banks and payment platforms – to create a “one network” for secure and seamless transnational movement of funds. The network facilitates a broad transaction set including interpersonal transfers, e-payments and government disbursements.
  Terra is platform agnostic and supports standard open APIs for integration with any mobile wallet provider. Through a single connection, partners gain access to a global payment network enabling rapid services up-scaling whilst minimizing Opex and Capex investments. As a fully regulated financial intermediary services network, Terra offers services beyond principal core transaction, routing and processing functions and assumes end-to-end responsibility for, regulatory compliance foreign exchange management and funds settlement.
  For more details visit www.terrapay.com Media Contact
  Sundeep Mehta
  Global PR Manager Contact: +91 124 481 9000
  
  i World Bank; Migration and Remittance Facebook; 2015. 
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