How to Build a Leaner, Smarter Money Service Business in 2025

In an era of rapid regulatory change, rising customer expectations, and digital disruption, how can money service businesses (MSBs)—companies that facilitate the transfer, exchange, or payment of money—not only survive but thrive? 

In our recent webinar, we gathered our top experts and unpacked the most pressing challenges facing MSBs today and shared proven strategies to help you scale, streamline compliance, and embrace innovation. 

Here are the top takeaways. 

1. Scale Smarter with our All-in-one Hub 

A major pain point for MSBs is integrating with multiple systems and partners from send and payout providers to value-add services like ID verification platforms, open banking tools, and payment gateways.  

RemitONE Hub™ solves this by offering two flexible options: connect via a single API or use our ready-made interface. Either way, you gain instant access to a global network of payment companies with the likes of Visa, Mastercard, Orange, MoneyGram, and many more. 

With access to over 2.5 billion bank accounts and 3 billion wallets, the RemitONE Hub™ gives you the tools to scale without stress. You stay in control of your payouts, partner terms, and operations—all from one place. 

We’ll help match you with the right partners based on your target corridors and budget to help meet your goals. What normally takes years, we help you achieve it in a few months. 

2. Shortcut to Launch into New Corridors 

Expanding to new corridors can feel like a maze of licences, banks, and paperwork. But it doesn’t have to be that way. 

With our Remittance-as-a-Service (RaaS), you can plug into our network of licensed partners across the UK, EU—and soon, the US and Canada. That means you can go live faster, spend less upfront, and stay fully compliant—without going it alone 

3. Stay Compliant with Compliance Manager™ (COM) 

Compliance and fraud prevention remain top priorities for MSBs. Our Compliance Manager™ (COM) automates 80% of those repetitive manual checks, runs real-time KYC/AML screening across 350+ global sanctions lists, and helps you monitor risk scores, transaction patterns, and suspicious activity. 

And it’s not just for MSBs. For central banks and regulators, COM offers live visibility into incoming and outgoing remittance flows—making it easier to track volumes accurately and close those reporting gaps. 

In short? You stay compliant, catch fraud early, and get to focus on growing your business.  

4. Reduce Costs and Settlement Delays with Open Banking 

We know how frustrating slow settlements and high fees can be—especially when you’re trying to keep things efficient. That’s why we support open banking. You can tap into direct bank-to-bank payments, which means faster processing times, fewer card-related fees, and reduced friction that often comes with traditional payment methods. We’ve already rolled this out across the UK and Europe through our partners, and it’s making a real difference. 

Even in countries without open banking, we provide alternative integrations with local processors. 

5. Offer Multifunctional Wallets for the Future of Finance 

Let’s be honest—digital wallets aren’t optional anymore. They’re a core part of how people move money today, and we’re making sure our clients are ready for that shift. 

We support everything from peer-to-peer transfers, bill payments, airtime top-ups, prepaid cards, and wallet-to-wallet transactions. Whether your customers are paying for groceries, sending money to family, or topping up Netflix—we’ve got it covered. 

We’ve also made sure our wallets connect to telcos, banks, and blockchain partners all with compliance built in from the get-go. 

It’s all part of how we’re helping MSBs stay relevant, inclusive, and ready for whatever comes next. 

6. Leverage a Flexible Platform Built for Growth 

One recurring theme throughout the webinar: flexibility is key. Whether you’re a startup finding your footing, a licensed MTO looking to scale, a send or payout partner, a central bank, or a sub-account issuer like an e-money institution, your needs will keep evolving. That’s why we’ve built our platform to move with you. Our white-label solution adapts to your regulatory landscape, your operations, and your goals—without locking you into one way of working. 

Because here’s the thing: if your platform isn’t flexible, you can’t adapt. And if you can’t adapt, you’ll get stuck—while your competitors sprint ahead. 

Worse still, you’ll waste valuable time patching together workarounds instead of moving forward. We’ve seen it too many times, which is why we’ve made it our mission to keep things open, partner-friendly, and ready for what’s next.  

Real growth happens when your platform moves with you—not against you. 

Ready to Future-Proof Your Business? 

The remittance and payments landscape is shifting fast, and the businesses that thrive are the ones that stay agile, compliant, and connected. 

At RemitONE, we’re not just building software. We’re helping MSBs grow smarter, launch faster, and operate with confidence, no matter where you’re headed next. 

If any of these challenges sound familiar, or if you’re curious about what’s possible with the right tech and support behind you, we’d love to talk. 

Book a free consultation call with our expert consultant or drop us an email for any questions at: sales@remitone.com  

IPR Training: AML and Compliance for Money Service Businesses Key Takeaways

In a rapidly evolving financial landscape, combating money laundering (AML) and ensuring compliance has become highly essential for money service businesses (MSBs). Two weeks ago, we hosted our second Innovation in Payments and Remittances (IPR)  training session, focusing on AML and compliance strategies tailored to the unique needs of MSBs. 

In this article, we’ll delve deeper into the key highlights discussed during the session for you to gain key insights from.

If you couldn’t attend the live sessions, don’t worry as you can still sign up at a reduced rate and access them on-demand.

It’s a great opportunity to enhance your expertise, earn CPD points, and secure a certification. You can register online here: https://payments2023.ipr-events.com/register

Now let’s dive right in and explore some of the key takeaways from the 2-day sessions.

1. Differentiating Terrorist Financing and Money Laundering: Recognising Patterns

Distinguishing between Terrorist Financing and Money laundering is vital in developing targeted prevention strategies. The training session highlighted that while both activities involve illicit financial transactions, they often exhibit different characteristics. Terrorist financing can be sourced through legitimate funding, unlike money laundering where its origin is from criminal activities and financial crime. 

Money laundering frequently involves larger amounts aimed at concealing the illegal origins of funds whilst Terrorist financing comprises of small, discrete transactions intended to avoid suspicion.

Noticing these unusual large or small transactions can be a key indicator of potential terrorist financing, allowing businesses to act quickly and prevent the flow of funds to harmful causes.

Furthermore, MSBs should set up appropriate monitoring mechanisms and transaction thresholds to better identify and report suspicious activities that align with the specific patterns of these crimes. This way MSBs can reduce the likelihood of criminal activity being carried out through their business.

2. Structured KYC Procedures: Gateway to prevent Money Laundering risks

As the starting point for any business relationship, a structured and rigorous KYC process enables MSBs to verify the identity of their customers, assess the legitimacy of their transactions, and detect potential red flags. By obtaining and verifying relevant information such as customer identification, source of funds, and purpose of transactions, MSBs can create a comprehensive customer profile that aids in identifying suspicious activities. Effective KYC practices also enable MSBs to establish a strong foundation for ongoing due diligence and monitoring.

Recognising that every MSB operates within a distinct operational context, it’s crucial to design risk assessments that address the specific needs and characteristics of each business. This approach ensures that potential vulnerabilities are identified and addressed effectively. By analysing factors such as transaction volume, customer profiles, geographic scope, and business relationships, MSBs can develop risk assessment frameworks that accurately reflect their exposure to money laundering and other financial crimes.  

RemitONE’s Compliance Manager™ (COM) features a set of compliance features to ensure enhanced detection of fraudulent money. Some of the features include:

• Linked Transaction Detection: will detect multiple transactions sent by the same remitter to different beneficiaries or multiple remitters to the same beneficiary. This will help you notice any suspicious activity you need to alert authorities of immediately.

• NameMatch™: Eliminating the need for manual cross-referencing against international sanction lists, our technology streamlines the process, ensuring greater efficiency. The system cross-checks against multiple sanction lists and accommodates the addition of custom lists. Moreover, seamless integration with external Compliance List Services, such as Reuters’ WorldCheck, Experian, and GBG, widens the spectrum of available lists, encompassing PEP lists as well.

• Dynamic risk scoring: Conduct personalised risk assessments utilising assigned scores ranging from 0 to 100 for Remitters and Beneficiaries. This score continually adjusts in response to a range of variables, encompassing factors like source country, nationality, individual versus corporate affiliations, and name screening outcomes.

If you’re interested to integrate COM™ into your system contact us at sales@remitone.com.

3. A Compliance Officer/MLRO is crucial

Delving deeper, Ibrahim emphasised the fundamental role of a Compliance Officer or Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) in combatting money laundering. There are four essential components he advised to keep in mind when selecting the right candidate:

1. Qualifications: The compliance officer must possess a strong foundation, supported by relevant qualifications and certifications. Their background should reflect a deep understanding of AML practices to effectively help them navigate the complexities of compliance. They should have a minimum of one year of practical experience in the field and hold credentials related to AML/compliance, endorsed by international standard organisations.

2. Championing Independence: Independence is key as the compliance officer controls AML policies, risk assessment, internal controls, and training. Furthermore, their decision-making process should remain uninfluenced by other team members, as external interference can cloud their perspective and make them compromise compliance.

3. Dedication Demanded: the compliance officer should be a dedicated, full-time member of the team to ensure a high level of monitoring. While certain operational aspects can be outsourced, the oversight and management of these functions, particularly in jurisdictions like the UK, remain firmly the responsibility of the compliance officer.

Sign up for IPR Training Sessions – Offering CPD Points and Certification

We have more exciting upcoming events you can sign up for. Discover the full schedule of events and reserve your spot now at: https://www.ipr-events.com/.  

Remember, tickets are limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. To ensure your participation please secure your seats early. 

Don’t miss out on these exclusive opportunities to expand your knowledge, connect with industry experts, and stay at the forefront of cutting-edge developments. 

We look forward to seeing you in our IPR training sessions!