Remitly launched its service in the United Kingdom last year, and we’re excited to announce that we’ve now expanded into additional send countries across Europe.
Remitly is now available in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Outside of Europe, Remitly is also available to customers in Australia, Canada, and the United States.
Customers across Europe can now use Remitly’s reliable and easy-to-use mobile app that makes the process of sending money faster, easier, more transparent and less costly by eliminating the forms, codes, agents, extra time, and fees typical of the traditional, century-old money transfer process.
“In one year, we’ve expanded from three send countries to now serving 15, representing over $121 billion in remittance flows annually. This expansion brings Remitly’s world-class product and technology to even more immigrant communities with the need to send money to their loved ones back home,” said Karim Meghji, Chief Product Officer at Remitly.
The company partnered with payment processing platform, Stripe, to help process transactions in various European currencies while minimizing customer friction. This partnership also enables Remitly to quickly expand its payment mechanisms on a global basis and beyond Europe.
Remitly’s global network of partners supports money transfers into bank accounts, home delivery or cash pick-up, to help reach recipients anywhere they live — from big cities to remote, rural areas around the world. Starting today, immigrant communities in Europe are able to assist their loved ones back home.
An Overview of Europe’s Remittance Market
It is estimated that 150 million people worldwide benefit from remittances originating in Europe. Although about one-third of remittances stay within 19 countries in Europe, the other two-thirds of remittances are sent out to families in over 50 developing countries across the world.
Europe has only ten percent of the world’s population, but has 20 percent of all migrant workers in the world. As a result, Europe comprises 25 percent of all remittances worldwide, according to a report from the International Fund for Agriculture and Development.
Peer-to-peer remittances in Europe were stagnant in the period between 2009 and 2013, but picked up in 2014 with $40.8 billion in remittances, and saw a significant increase in 2016, with $43.8 billion being sent abroad from European countries. Remittances flowing into Europe and Central Asia jumped from $25.0 billion in 2007 to $42.9 billion in 2016, and up to $48 billion in 2017.
One of the biggest reasons for the general increases in remittances is that the global economic crisis has forced many laborers to seek steadier and better income in the greater European continent. The euro and ruble have both appreciated against the US dollar, which makes staying in the European area more attractive than traveling as far as the United States to seek steady employment and income.
Some of the top countries to receive remittances from Europe are Nigeria, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, and Pakistan. To note, Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, and Belgium each send at least $100 million to Nigeria yearly, with Ireland sending $433 million in 2016.
Italy is also a major sender of remittances to Nigeria, with almost one billion dollars sent in 2016 alone. Smaller countries, such as Denmark, Finland, and Norway, send a big portion of their remittances to Asia and the Middle East in addition to Nigeria.
Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, and Colombia are also large recipients of European remittances from countries such as Italy and Spain, who send millions of dollars in remittances every year to South American countries. Notably, Spain sent approximately $992 million to Ecuador in 2016, making them the second-highest amount of remittances received by Ecuador.
As of 2016, Germany serves as one of the biggest overall sending countries in Europe to overseas communities, sending over $645 million to Vietnam and making them one of the top five countries that send remittances to Vietnam. Germany also sent $640 million to Nigeria and $302 million to India, making the country a major player in the remittance market of each country.
European countries have made a major difference in the worldwide remittance market, and Remitly is proud to be able to help people send money to their loved ones from countries all across Europe.