Remitly Expands To The UK

Amazon-backed independent digital money transfer startup Remitly recently told Reuters that it had launched its remittance services for users seeking to transfer money from the U.K.

With the addition of Massachusetts earlier this year, Remitly serves users across all 50 U.S. states, in Canada and now the U.K. Each year, the Seattle-based company reportedly transfers more than $2 billion for its customers to recipients in India, the Philippines, Mexico and several other Latin American countries.

With its U.K. launch, Reuters noted that Remitly will run up against local digital remittance competitors Transferwise and Azimo, as well as brick-and-mortar legacy money transfer systems like Western Union and Moneygram.

“Europe as a continent is the second largest remittance-sending geography, so there’s a lot of opportunity around here,” Remitly CEO Matt Oppenheimer told Reuters. “Over £19 billion in remittances are sent from the U.K., and launching here is a natural next step for us as we expand across the globe.”

As the global economy becomes more connected, Remitly has said that migrants around the world are looking for new ways to transfer money. Historically, the remittance process has been slow, expensive and lacked transparency, leaving customers in the dark. Still, the global flow of remittance funds topped $600 billion last year.

By entering into Mexico and other Latin American countries last year, Remitly has been able to boost its transfer flow. Latin Americans living in the United States are responsible for sending over $17 billion in annual remittance volume. The latest move into the U.K. could only work to grow Remitly’s transfer volume further.