Global Money Transfer Summit 2015

 

Annual GMTS 2015 conference held in Canary Wharf, London, brings together money transfer executives from around the globe.

London – September 17th 2015 – The International Association of Money Transfer Networks is pleased to report the resounding success of its 10th GMT Summit. The summit regularly attracts top money transfer executives from around the world to hear insights from a stellar speaker line up composed of established industry leaders and innovating newcomers. GMTS2015 was kindly sponsored by: Ria Money Transfer, MoneyGram International, Wall Street Exchange, Tempo Money Transfer, Instant Cash and Jumio.

  
The two-day conference was held on 15th and 16th of September at Level39, Canary Wharf, London and included the presenting of IAMTN’s 2015 Money Transfer Awards. The Money transfer Awards 2015 were presented by Mrs Veronica Studsgaard, Co-Founder & CEO of IAMTN, and Mr Mohit Davar, Chairman of IAMTN. The winners of the Traditional Model category was presented to Ria Money Transfer, Mr Sebastian Plubins, Managing Director EMEASA, received the award. The Digital Model category was presented to Azimo, Mr Michael Kent, Founder & CEO of Azimo received the award.

  
The first day began with a general overview of the industry by a well-established figure in the Fintech landscape – Kai Schmitz of the IFC. With a wide variety of experience in both the private and public sectors, in remittances, payments and markets, Kai is expertly positioned to describe the ‘lay of the land’ as far as the international payments space is concerned. He understands the key issues from both the position of development agencies and from the money transfer operators as well.  In his current role with IFC he looks at many businesses that are seeking funding or investment.Offering a note of scepticism with respect to the reported growth figures, Schmitz predicted substantially intensified competition in the near future, particularly in Europe rather than the U.S.

  
Following the broad perspective offered by Mr Schmitz, a panel of companies associated with the traditional remittance model took to the stage to discuss the challenges and opportunities presented to their segment of the market. The panel presenters were Sebastian Plubins, Managing Director (EMEA & South Asia) at Ria Money Transfer; Marc Matthews, Senior Regional Director (UK & Ireland) at MoneyGram International; and Jeremy de Smet, COO at Moneytrans. The outlook presented was an uncompromisingly positive one, with all the panellists arguing for the continued perception of the traditional model as the overwhelmingly dominant one within the industry.

  
 The next panel was presented by five leading players in the mobile space, which despite the huge interest, still only accounts for a small segment of market share. The panellists were Tom Heeremans of Transfer-To; Ammara Batool of Mobilink; Alix Murphy of WorldRemit; Rajiv Bathia of Ericsson; and Stephen Doyle of Homesend.

  
In the afternoon session, one of the most respected figures in the industry and is often the ‘go-to’ person for a range of media. Dilip Ratha, presented on the state of the remittance industry. Ratha is Head of the Migration and Remittances team at the World Bank. There was a particular focus on practical solutions to the myriad challenges faced by both Money Transfer operators and countries in the developing world.

  
The second day began with a lucid explanation from Daniel Marovitz of Earthport on the invariably mystifying topic of cryptocurrency. Combining his strong grasp of the technical and theoretical aspects of digital currencies with his expertise in cross-border payments, Marovitz outlined the ways in which cryptocurrency could influence the future of the industry. The cryptocurrency theme continued with a panel later in the day, presented by Bitpay, the Bitcoin Foundation, and CCEDK. Other notable presentations approached the topics of disruptors, and the role of Post Offices in today’s cross-border payments world.

  
Other notable events at the summit included a presentation of the recent 4th Money Laundering Directive by Dr Thaer Sabri, CEO of the Electronic Money Organisation, and the official unveiling of CCEDK’s new cryptocurrency-based payments platform OpenLedger .

  
The main conclusion was clear, the industry is adapting to the challenges it is facing today, competition is getting stronger and banks and mobile operators are also willing to enter this industry, but it is also clear that it is not about digital, or traditional, or mobile, or even cryptocurrencies. Let’s not forget it is all about the customer and we should never guess or underestimate the customer. 

IAMTN will host the next Global Money Transfer Summit in 2016, with further details to be announced later. The growth of the industry is as swift as the technological development that supports it, and as such, each year brings increased interest in the remittance space. For more information, please contact IAMTN at iamtn@iamtn.org

GMTS 2015 - Where do you see the industry headed in 10 year's time?

Michael Kent, whose company Azimo recently won an IAMTN money transfer award at the GMTS, shares his thoughts and insights into the future of the remittance industry

2025: The Fintech industry comes of age

Michael Kent, CEO and Founder, Azimo

Before you can know where you are going, you need to first know where you have been.

When I started my first money transfer company back in 2005, we were living in a world where the latest Nokia smartphone was as hip as the iPhone 6S, internet was painfully slow and most of us still bought CDs.

Today, we live in a world of hyperconnectivity, where the way we live, work and interact with each other, especially remotely and across borders, has fundamentally changed thanks to digital, mobile and social technology. By 2020 there will be 6 billion smartphone users worldwide – close to the number of people on the planet. That’s nearly everyone, online, all the time.

These changes are resulting in a huge shift in the way that people interact with their money: lending, borrowing, sharing, donating, paying and getting paid. This is especially true when it comes to how money is moved around the world. In the remittance sector the new ‘Fintech’ players are driving lower prices, greater accessibility, more convenience and putting customers back in control. In turn that’s breaking down the financial barriers between countries, shifting value from large institutions to customers and breathing new life into developing and emerging economies.

But while we’ve come a long way, we’re only at the tipping point and I predict that the next ten years we’ll see the payments and in particular the remittance industry change beyond all recognition. They say it’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future, but by 2025 here’s how I see it all playing out:  

• R.I.P. Offline: Money transfer stores will all but disappear from the high street, with 90% of remittance senders in Europe and USA using a smartphone to send money abroad. 
• Mobile Wallets will become ubiquitous: Nearly 2 billion more people will have smartphone centric mobile wallets in Africa and Asia putting them financially on grid. However cash will not disappear. Users will still be need to be able to freely cash-in and cash-out and I predict over 50% of remittance will still be sent to cash
• Social-first money transfers: Sending money will be fully integrated with messaging and chat (FB messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Hangouts etc). Sometimes those services will be native, sometimes they will be offered using third parties
• Instant everything: The always-on consumers emerging today will not accept anything less than ‘instant’ in 2025: three to five day delivery timescales just won’t cut it anymore. Speed matters especially when it comes to money. It’s already forced companies to reinvent their business models, those that fail to adapt won’t survive the next ten year. 
• Blockchain technology will rapidly change the remittance backend: Blockchain and distributed general ledgers will go mainstream but only for corporate and institutional users as a means to speed up international delivery of funds in place of services like SWIFT. However mainstream consumer adoption of crypto currencies like bitcoin won’t happen – the regulators wont let it. 
• Consolidation: The rising tide of regulation and high step costs of technology will mean that the money transfer market will continue consolidate. We’ll see mega-mergers of the traditional players (like the rumored Western Union/Moneygram tie up) as well as more high profile acquisitions of digital businesses (like the recent Xoom / PayPal deal) 

Tempo Money Transfer strengthens positions in Sri Lanka. Collaboration with Sampath Bank has commenced

International money transfer system Tempo Money Transfer (TMT) strengthened it position in Sri Lanka. The France-based remittance service provider has successfully completed an integration project with the Colombo-headquartered financial institution, Sampath Bank. Clients are now able to send money from over 70 TMT agent locations in Germany and France and receive the funds in branches throughout Sri Lanka. The total number of the branches exceeds 200 island-wide.

Thus, with the project's successful completion, the number of Tempo Money Transfer locations in the country has soared to nearly 400, in 25 regional districts and 9 provinces of the country. The bank already works in partnership with Seylan Bank.

The project gives clients access to a multi-product spectrum of services including not only the pay-out option and account-crediting in Sampath Bank but also account crediting in the country’s commercial banks through SLIPS (Sri Lanka Interbank Payment System).

Very competitive foreign currency exchange rates are available.

“Accordingly, the Bank has taken major revolutionary steps to make remittance withdrawal facilities available for beneficiaries around the clock, so that senders and beneficiaries can send and receive money at their will without confining to Banking hours, unhindered by cross-border time differences. With the latest E - Remittance to Mobile Cash facility, customers can receive a transaction pin number to their mobile phones and withdraw from ATM machines without an ATM card, using the PIN number received to their mobile, subject to a pre registration of the beneficiary with the bank,” said Mr Kusal De Silva, head of remittances at Sampath Bank. He also pointed out that with the project's further development, the bank expects to increase its client portfolio, given the position Tempo Money Transfer occupies in the remittances market of the EU.

TMT’s president Mr. Jeffrey Phaneuf said the Paris-headquartered company has ambitious plans in Asia. “We are dedicated to reaching extensive location coverage, broad spectrum of options and excellent quality service, we will provide our clients with. It gives the joint venture great perspective, and makes the project a significant event in the Sri Lankan money transfer segment.” He also added that the demand for quality remittance services is growing in the country in particular and in Asia in general.

Mr. Phaneuf reported that Tempo Money Transfer is now present in over 100 countries, has over 4,300 locations in India, nearly 2,000 locations in Pakistan, and close to 6,000 locations in the Philippines. The number of its locations in Nepal exceeds 1,800.