Aite Group Analyzes Money Transfer Industry In Its New Report

A new report from Aite Group, LLC assesses the state of the money transfer industry. The report, based on a March and April 2009 Aite Group survey of 28 firms operating in the money transfer business around the world, explores

By None

A new report from Aite Group, LLC assesses the state of the money transfer industry. The report, based on a March and April 2009 Aite Group survey of 28 firms operating in the money transfer business around the world, explores the market trends affecting the industry and the business priorities of money transfer service providers, and provides a snapshot of the competitive landscape.

Among key findings, the report reveals that money transmitters Western Union and MoneyGram are coming out of the past two years stronger than ever in comparison to other MTOs. While tier-three and tier-four MTOs are trapped in a vicious cycle of paying higher commissions to retain independent agents’ business, the leading brands have remained somewhat insulated.

The report finds that MTOs’ core business model, which is built around an agent network, remains very strong. Emerging channels are not currently a disruptive force to their business model. Even the Internet remains a very small send channel globally. As for cross-border mobile money transfers, they face considerable hurdles, of which regulatory issues are not the least.

“Emerging channels are grossly over-hyped issues for the industry,” says Gwenn Bzard, research director with Aite Group and author of the report. “Other issues should be top of mind for leading MTOs, including the fact that banks are slowly but steadily gaining market share on the send side of the money transfer business. To side-step that threat, leading MTOs will need to make winning U.S. banks as agents their number one strategic priority for the foreseeable future.”

The report mentions the following players: Adobe, BNY Mellon, Citigroup, Coinstar, DolEx (Global Payments), Earthport, eClearing, Euronet, Globe Telecom, Grupo Express, Home Depot, ICICI Bank, iSend, iKobo, Incomm, Intermex, La Nacional, Lloyds Banking Group, MasterCard, MoneyGram, Money2India.com, Nexxo Financial, Obopay, Omnex, PayPal, Philippines National Bank, Pronto Envios, Remesas Quisqueyana, Remit2India.com, Safaricom, Sigue, Smart Communications, Standard Chartered Bank, Transfast, UAE Exchange, US Bank, Uniteller, Viamericas, Visa, Wal-Mart, Wells Fargo, Western Union and Xoom.

D.C.

«