A new Visa research “Money Travels: 2023 Digital Remittances Adoption” found that 54% of global surveyed remittance users are turning to digital apps to send and receive funds. It was found that users in Singapore (73%) and the Philippines (71%) overwhelmingly choose app-based solutions to do so.

“Fast, easy, and secure payments can make a profound difference to families, communities, and economies around the world. This new research shows incredible acceleration of digital payments and how consumer expectations of speed and ease of use is underpinned by the demand for better security.”

T.R. Ramachandran, Visa Head of New Payment Flows, Asia Pacific

The survey was conducted by Morning Consult during December 14-28, 2022 among a sample of more than 14,000 remittance senders and receivers across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, France, Poland, the Philippines, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

Digital Remittances Win on Convenience, Security, and Speed

Visa’s study examines consumers’ habits and preferences when sending and receiving money. Highlights of the study include:

• Digital remittances are the preferred method amongst consumers across all surveyed markets. Between 60-70% of surveyed remittance users across North America have used an app-based digital payment method to send/receive money internationally. This trend is also observed with Saudi Arabia (69%) and the United Arab Emirates (65%) users. In Asia Pacific, digital solutions also continue to be the preferred choice, with Filipino remittance receivers intending to use digital transfers (57%) and to receive money digitally (36%).
• App-based digital payments are considered the most secure method by a strong proportion of remittance users across countries. In Singapore, three out of five (61%) surveyed consumers reported using digital-only means for sending money internationally because of ease of use and security (53%).
• Sending more money, more often, is easier than ever. Over half of those who have sent money internationally do so about once per month or more often in the United Arab Emirates (71%), Saudi Arabia (64%), and the Philippines (48%). Among those who have received money, 80% do so at least a few times per year in Saudi Arabia, followed by the Philippines (77%), and Mexico (72%).

“Remittance habits are also changing with ease of use and better technology – we are seeing remittances being sent and received in less than a day in Asia Pacific, spurring increased frequencies. Beyond livelihoods, we are also seeing more remittances made in support of key life milestones, such as funding college education, making investments for the long term or saving for an overseas property purchase.” Ramachandran continues

Visa – Enabling Smarter and Faster Remittances

Visa works in collaboration with global remitters like Maya Philippines, Brightwell, Paysend, Western Union, and Xoom to help enable efficient money movement through digitized remittances.

“At Maya, we understand the critical role that remittances play in the daily lives of countless Filipinos and their families. That’s why we’re working with companies like Visa to help promote innovative cross-border money transfer services. By leveraging the Maya app, including Maya Bank, to facilitate fast, secure, and low-cost remittance, we’re meeting a vital need in making transactions safer and more convenient.”

Shailesh Baidwan, Maya Group President

Visa also launched a new podcast series – Money Travels. It unearths how payment-related topics unfold differently in various places around the world and highlights stories of real people, payment experts, and partners.

For more information, click here.

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