Transfer Platform Sees Uptick in Users During Month of March
WorldRemit, a global payments and money transfer platform, is donating £400,000 worth of vouchers for money transfers to NHS workers. According to WorldRemit, the move is to thank the health service workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
WorldRemit reports that in England alone about 13% of the NHS workforce report non-British nationality.
Additionally, others are second-generation migrants, with relatives outside the UK. WorldRemit provides a service for migrants helping them to send money abroad through a variety of options such as bank transfer, mobile money, and airtime, providing digital alternatives in addition to its cash pick up service.
Breon Corcoran, WorldRemit CEO, commented in a release:
“We hope this gesture will go a small way towards helping our NHS staff look after friends and families across the world as well as they are looking after the British public. You look after our loved ones, this is our way of being there for you.”
WorldRemit adds that the international money transfer market has been transformed by the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy. As countries impose lockdowns to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, insights from international money transfer service WorldRemit show this is causing significant changes to the way people send money abroad.
According to the company, in countries like the US, Canada, Spain, Italy and the UK where movement restrictions are in place, WorldRemit has seen an increase in customer acquisition throughout March. People who still need to send money abroad and have previously used traditional bricks and mortar agents are migrating to digital methods.
For the recipients of WorldRemit transfers, cash pick up is still available in most countries. However, data collected by WorldRemit in the last few weeks suggests that where cash pick up is limited due to lockdown, thus driving a significant shift to digital.
Corcoran explained that over the last few weeks they have seen a shift towards digital money transfer over physical cash methods and this is likely to continue for as long as COVID-19 continues to be a threat.
“While it’s likely we will see some customers return to cash as their preferred method in the medium term, overall this trend will only accelerate the move towards mobile money and other forms of digital payment.”
