From Sending Money to Everyday Payments: The Next Chapter for Remittances
Imagine if customers opened your app for more than just sending money?
The remittance app is starting to become more than a place to make a transfer. As customers look to manage more of their financial needs in one place, providers have an opportunity to build more value around the transaction.
47% of consumers prioritised having a single platform to manage their financial services. The market is already responding. Remitly, for example, has introduced a Global Card that brings sending, spending, saving, receiving and getting paid together within one account.
For remittance providers, this shift creates a bigger commercial question: how do you make the app useful between transfers?
Adding relevant services can help providers:
- Generate revenue beyond the transfer
- Increase the value of each customer relationship
- Give customers more reasons to return
- Differentiate their proposition as transfer pricing becomes harder to compete on
So what does this look like in practice, and where should an MSB start?
What Makes a Money Transfer App a Payments App?
Value-added services can extend the role of a Money Service Business (MSB) beyond the transfer itself, creating additional revenue opportunities. Rather than building an entirely new product, operators can add services that fit naturally around their customers’ financial needs.
Here are some high-demand examples:
- Airtime and data top-ups sent directly to recipients, making it easier to support family and friends abroad
- eSIMs, particularly ideal for travel season or customers who travel frequently throughout the year.
- Utility and government bill payments, including electricity, water and loans, helping customers support their loved ones’ regular expenses across borders
- Gift/prepaid cards can load funds to spend across major retailers in sender or recipient countries, giving customers another way to send value
Together, these services help MSBs become less reliant on transfers, increase their customers’ lifetime value, and achieve healthier margins.
How Should Money Transfer Apps Adapt to Customer Behaviour?
Features alone don’t make an app feel like a payments platform; the interface does.
Leading with a balance and wallet view is what gives it that everyday, mini-bank feel.
Features alone don’t make an app feel like a payments platform. The experience does. A balance and wallet-led interface can make the app feel more like an everyday financial tool than somewhere customers only visit to send money.
One operator we work with, expanding its UK-to-Africa corridor, asked for exactly this: an interface where the receiver’s popular transfer method – wallet, to be the default transfer method instead of bank transfer to improve customer convenience and push more transactions.
Which Value-Added Services Would Work for You?
What works will depend on your corridors, customer behaviour and existing proposition. The better approach is to identify what your customers already need, connect it to your existing offering and build from there.
That could mean introducing eSIMs for customers who regularly travel internationally, bill payment for customers supporting family overseas, or gift cards for customers looking for convenient ways to spend.
Starting with one or two relevant services allows you to test demand, learn what customers use and build from evidence. It also limits the investment required before a new service has proven its value.
For example, in one modelled scenario, a gift card service introduced to a 50,000-customer base with 15% adoption generated an estimated £56,000 in annual revenue from that service alone.
You can see your own revenue potential through RemitONE’s free estimator tool: https://growth.remitone.com
Where to Get Started
Moving towards an everyday payments proposition does not have to mean rebuilding your entire platform.
Start with the customer. Look at how they use your service today, where demand is strongest and what they are already doing outside your platform.
From there, identify one or two services that make sense for your customers and corridors. Test them, measure adoption and expand based on what you learn.
The same applies to the app experience. If customers in one corridor behave differently from customers in another, your interface should be able to reflect that.
RemitONE supports both sides of this approach, from value-added services such as eSIMs, gift cards and bill payments to a customisable interface that can be configured around different corridors.
If you’re exploring what an everyday payments app could look like for your business, talk to our team. We’ll share what we’re seeing across the market and explore what makes sense based on your model and customers.
FAQ
What is an everyday payments app?
It is a shift from an app built primarily for sending money abroad to a platform customers can use more regularly for services such as receiving funds, wallet transfers, bill payments, top-ups and other value-added services alongside remittances.
Why are money transfer companies adding more payment services?
Customers are increasingly looking for more of their financial services in one place. Adding relevant services can make an app more useful between transfers, increase engagement and create additional revenue opportunities.
What value-added services can money transfer businesses offer?
Value-added services are additional products and services offered alongside the core money transfer experience. These can include eSIMs, gift cards, subscriptions, bill payments, utility top-ups and other services that give customers more reasons to use the platform beyond sending money.
One Payout Partner. More Ways to Reach Africa.
What if expanding your African payout coverage didn’t mean building a new network in every market?
For money transfer companies, banks and remittance providers, the right payout partner can make the difference between simply entering a new corridor and being able to scale it with confidence.
Unity Link offers a broader route into Africa through one established payout network, supporting payouts across Ghana, Nigeria, XAF/XOF markets and East Africa. This can mean fewer payout relationships to manage, broader coverage across key corridors and a simpler route into new markets.
Unity Link has also received approval under Ghana’s new registration framework for International Money Transfer Operators, giving remittance businesses an approved partner option for payouts into Ghana under the latest regulatory requirements.
More coverage means more opportunities to grow.
Whether you are reviewing your existing payout network or looking to enter new African corridors, Unity Link could provide another option for extending your reach.
Speak to the RemitONE team to discuss your plans and arrange an introduction to Unity Link.
Episode 10: The New Rules of Cross-Border Payments
Over the past year, we’ve spoken to operators, technology leaders and payments experts about what’s changing in cross-border payments.
For this special episode, we went back through those conversations and pulled together five practical rules for money transfer operators growth, covering diversification, AI, customer retention, new revenue opportunities and when to build versus partner.
From entering new markets faster to using AI to automate operational processes, this episode explores the practical steps money transfer operators can take to reduce costs, protect margins and build sustainable growth.
What you’ll take away:
- How to expand into new corridors in weeks with half of the upfront cost and more network
- Where to start with AI without overhauling your entire operation
- How to act while a customer is still deciding between providers
- Where new revenue opportunities can exist between transfers
- When to build in-house and when partnering can get you to market faster
Your next stage of growth starts with the right foundations.
From entering new markets faster to automating operations and expanding what you offer customers, RemitONE gives money transfer operators the technology and infrastructure to move from strategy to action, without building from scratch.
If you’re thinking about what comes next for your business, talk to our team to explore what could work for your model and needs.
How MTOs Can Improve Margins: 3 Practical Strategies | Webinar
Growing transaction volumes doesn’t always mean growing profits.
In this webinar, we explore three practical strategies that help MTOs recover hidden margin, increase revenue from existing customers and expand into new markets faster without unnecessary complexity.
What you’ll learn:
✔ How to expand into new markets in weeks instead of months or years with Remittance-as-a-Service (RaaS)
✔ Where hidden settlement and FX costs are reducing profitability
✔ Which value-added services can improve customer retention and lifetime value
✔ Why leading operators are evolving from remittances into everyday payments app.
Every MTO faces different growth challenges. If you’d like to explore where your business model could be improved and which strategies could help you cut costs, then book a free call with Oussama or get in touch at: marketing@remitone.com
Episode 9: Why Remittance Growth Is No Longer About Moving Money
For years, the playbook was simple: offer competitive rates, move money quickly, stay compliant and grow. Today, that’s no longer enough. Customer expectations are rising. Compliance costs continue to increase. New technologies are reshaping the industry.
In this episode, Natalie is joined by Leon Isaacs and Oussama Kseibati to explore why the traditional remittance growth model is changing and what operators need to do over the next five years to stay competitive.
Together, they discuss the forces shaping the industry today, from commoditisation and changing customer expectations to rising compliance costs, emerging technologies and why successful operators need to think beyond transactions.
If you’re looking to explore new growth opportunities that bring in more revenue, then you can book a conversation with us below to explore what best suits your setup and goals:
Travel eSIMs: unlock more revenue from your existing customers
The customer relationship is changing
For years, remittance businesses have measured their customer relationship in a single moment: the transfer. Most other customer spending has happened outside that relationship.
That’s starting to change. Global travel eSIM spend is projected to grow from $1.8 billion in 2025 to $8.7 billion by 2030
It’s one of the fastest-growing categories in consumer telecom. The operators T that succeed will not only be those that move money well. They will be the ones that stay relevant to customers between transfers.
The potential revenue opportunity
Take 50,000 active customers: at 20% adoption and £40 average annual spend, that’s £400,000 flowing through the business, with a meaningful share retained as margin, scaling with the customer base rather than transaction volume.
Offer travel eSIMs through your own brand
This is why RemitONE has introduced travel eSIMs within its platform.
Money Transfer Operator (MTO), banks and fintechs running on RemitONE can offer customers the ability to purchase and top up mobile data for use abroad, through their own branded customer experience. They can introduce an additional service without building telecom infrastructure or hiring specialist teams.
Stay relevant between transfers
The model is simple.
A customer already using your app to send money can also access and purchase a travel eSIM. This helps keep your brand relevant beyond the transfer and gives customers another reason to return.
Estimate your travel eSIM revenue
How much could travel eSIMs generate for your business?
Use the RemitONE Growth Hub calculator to estimate the potential opportunity based on your active customer base.
Calculate your potential travel eSIM revenue
Prefer to discuss the opportunity directly?
Email marketing@remitone.com or book a call with our team below:
Episode 8: 5 Ways Money Transfer Operators Can Reduce Costs and Scale Smarter
As money transfer operators grow, costs can quickly build across compliance, agent management, payout partners, and market expansion.
In this episode Natalie Perkins is joined by Aamer Abedi, CMO at RemitONE, to discuss five practical ways MTOs can reduce costs while building a more scalable operation.
From compliance automation and agent oversight to partner ecosystems, digital wallets and Remittance-as-a-Service, this episode explores where operators often lose margin and how technology can help improve efficiency.
If you’re looking to reduce costs, improve operations, or expand into new markets then book a call with Oussama to explore what options could work best based on your business setup.
RemitONE Webinar: Turn Transactions into New Revenue & Reduce Costs
Many cross-border payment providers are unaware of how much their compliance checks are costing them time and money.
With compliance costs rising, loyalty becoming harder to maintain, and margins under pressure, many providers are starting to rethink how they grow profitably without adding complexity.
In our latest webinar, we explored how money transfer operators, fintechs, and payment providers are using AI and value-added services to reduce operational costs, improve approvals, and unlock new revenue opportunities around the transaction.
What you’ll take away:
- Cut compliance costs with centralised PEPs & sanction checks
- Improve transaction approvals and speed with AI
- Automate manual compliance processes and reduce workload
- Prevent fraud and speed up onboarding ID verification with liveness checks
- How value-added services like open banking, eSIMs, airtime, and payout aggregation create new revenue
If you missed the live session or want to revisit the strategies discussed, you can watch the full replay below.
As competition tightens across cross-border payments, growth is becoming less about doing more, and more about operating smarter.
The providers pulling ahead are reducing friction, improving customer experience, and creating more value around every transaction, while keeping costs under control.
If you’d like to explore any of the topics discussed in more detail or see how they could work for your business model, feel free to reach out to the team at marketing@remitone.com or book a free call with Oussama.
RemitONE partners with Volume to expand open banking payment capabilities
Integration gives RemitONE clients faster, lower-cost customer funding through secure account-to-account payments
London, 28th May 2026 — RemitONE, a leading provider of money transfer software, has partnered with Volume to bring open banking payments to RemitONE’s global network of banks, money service businesses (MSBs), and fintechs.
The integration enables RemitONE clients to offer customers a faster and more cost-effective way to fund cross-border transfers using secure account-to-account payments directly from their banking apps.
As card processing fees continue to rise and remittance providers seek better ways to improve margins and customer experience, open banking is emerging as a powerful alternative to traditional card-based funding methods.
Through the integration, customers can authorise payments securely using biometric authentication within their banking app, with transactions settling in as little as 2.5 seconds. By reducing reliance on traditional card networks, businesses can lower payment processing costs, reduce chargebacks, and improve payment conversion rates.
Open banking payments have been shown to increase conversion rates by up to 250 percent while reducing payment fees by up to three times compared to card-based methods.
Volume’s infrastructure connects businesses directly to real-time bank payment networks, helping simplify account-to-account payment acceptance for remittance providers without the complexity of managing multiple banking integrations.
For RemitONE clients, the partnership provides immediate access to open banking payment capabilities without the need for separate procurement or complex integration projects. Clients gain greater flexibility in how they accept payments, alongside improvements to customer experience, operational efficiency, and transaction success rates.
Aamer Abedi, Chief Marketing Officer, RemitONE, said:
“Our partnership with Volume reflects our commitment to continuously expanding the RemitONE ecosystem with technologies that directly address our clients’ challenges. By enabling open banking payments within our platform, we are giving our clients another powerful way to reduce payment costs, improve customer experience, and streamline the funding process.”
Simone Martinelli, CEO & Co-Founder, Volume, said:
Volume exists to be the operating system that powers how remittance businesses accept payments. Our partnership with RemitONE means their entire network — hundreds of banks, MSBs, and fintechs worldwide — can now offer their customers instant, low-cost funding through open banking. It’s a fundamentally better way to move money into the remittance corridor, and we’re excited to make it available at this scale.”
This is one of many new integrations being rolled out to give RemitONE clients greater reach, smarter efficiency, and a stronger competitive edge.
If you would like to explore how this integration could support your business, please get in touch with the RemitONE team at marketing@remitone.com.
About Volume
Volume is the business operating system for payments, a one-stop infrastructure that connects businesses directly to real-time bank payment networks. By replacing fragmented payment integrations with a single platform, Volume enables remittance providers to accept instant, secure, low-cost payments from their customers. Founded in London by ex-Worldremit execs and backed by leading investment funds Firstminute Capital and United Venture, Volume works with leading remittance platforms worldwide.
For more information, visit www.getvolume.com
About RemitONE
RemitONE is a leading provider of money transfer software, powering a global network of banks, MSBs, and fintechs with technology designed to support compliant, efficient, and scalable remittance operations. Through a growing ecosystem of integrations and partners, RemitONE helps businesses expand their reach, improve operational efficiency, and deliver better customer experiences.
For more information, visit www.remitone.com
Media Contacts
Volume: Moises Gonzalez, Head of Marketing — moises@getvolume.com
RemitONE: Aamer Abedi, Chief Marketing Officer — marketing@remitone.com
If you’d like to activate or explore how this integration can help your business growth then book a free call or get in touch with us at marketing@remitone.com. This is just one of the many new integrations we’re rolling out to give our clients greater reach, smarter efficiency and a stronger competitive edge. So, stay tuned for more exciting updates.
Episode 7: AI for Loyalty – Improve Customer Retention and Reduce Churn
Customer loyalty is a constant struggle in cross-border payments, with only 16% using a default provider. Customers switch providers in seconds, often for marginal differences in price, speed, or convenience.
Yet many money transfer businesses and banks are still relying on surface-level data, assuming they understand their customers when in reality, they’re missing the signals that matter most.
In this episode of the IPR Podcast, Natalie sits down with Dr Senaka Fernando to explore how AI is helping remittance providers move beyond static insights – turning customer data into real-time, revenue-protecting action.
Because growth today isn’t just about acquisition. It’s about knowing who’s about to leave and stopping it before it happens.
What you’ll learn:
✔️ Why loyalty is harder to maintain in the remittance industry
✔️ The gap between basic reporting and true customer understanding
✔️ How AI-driven segmentation reveals churn risk and growth opportunities
✔️ Why speed of reaction is the difference between retention and loss
✔️ How to move from insight to action to automation without increasing workload
✔️ Practical first steps to start using AI in your customer retention strategy
Tune in now to discover how AI can turn your insights into loyalty and growth for the long-term.
Loyalty isn’t a one-off campaign, it’s a process. And the businesses that win are the ones that can act on customer behaviour in real time.
If you’re ready to stop guessing and start retaining, you can book a free call and see how AI-driven loyalty can help grow your business.
