Remittances to low- and middle-income countries reached USD 860 billion last year, more than global foreign aid and investment combined. This was driven largely by individuals sending money home. Once dominated by legacy players like Western Union and MoneyGram, the sector long suffered from slow transfers and fees of up to 10%.
Fintech innovation has dramatically changed the landscape, cutting average costs to 2–3% in many corridors and enabling near-instant digital transfers. The pandemic further accelerated competition, pushing down costs and driving digital adoption across emerging markets, with new entrants such as Wise, Remitly and regional platforms like Grab and GCash embedding remittance capabilities directly into apps people already use and making “seamless transfers” the new global standard. Governments have supported this shift with policies, expanding mobile access and simplifying KYC (e.g. Fiji’s free digital transfers, Ghana’s flexible account verification rules). At the same time, crypto is emerging as a new rail for cross-border transfers as stablecoins like USDT and USDC are increasingly used for instant remittances and firms like MoneyGram, Ripple and PayPal are experimenting with blockchain-based settlement.
Together, these innovations are making remittances faster, cheaper and more inclusive, empowering small businesses and households as well as providing crucial liquidity in fragile economies where remittances often exceed 10% of GDP through smart initiatives that: (1) embed cross-border payments into existing platforms and services, (2) leverage mobile money providers and fintech APIs and (3) explore digital currency solutions to further reduce fees and settlement times.
