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.
Webinar Replay: Unlock More Value from Every Remittance Transaction
Remittances are evolving, and growth is no longer just about moving money.
In our recent 30-minute webinar, we explored how leading providers are unlocking value around each transaction to drive smarter growth.
Here’s what you’ll discover:
- Faster account-to-account payment initiation using open banking.
- Prepaid cards give receivers faster access to funds and greater flexibility for everyday and online spend.
- Simple, convenience-led services such as travel eSIMs that strengthen customer loyalty.
- Broader and more reliable payout options across key corridors.
Watch to see how these capabilities can be introduced without adding operational complexity or risk, all through a single, production-ready platform.
Your flows might be performing today, but as others introduce value-added services around the transaction, it’s only a matter of time before your customers move to them.
If you’d like to see how these strategies could work for your business, our team is happy to walk you through practical next steps and explore how to tailor them to your existing operations. You can book a call here:
RemitONE and Digit9 Partner Up to Expand Global Cross-Border Payments
RemitONE continues to strengthen its global payments ecosystem with a new integration with Digit9, enhancing cross-border payment capabilities for Money Service Businesses (MSBs), including Money Transfer Operators (MTOs), banks, and fintechs worldwide.
Through this integration between RemitONE and Digit 9, RemitONE clients can now access cross-border services across 170+ countries. Services include bank/account credit, cash pickups, and wallet payouts, supporting both B2B and C2C payment flows across multiple rails.
By combining RemitONE’s technology with Digit9’s global payout network, clients benefit from competitive market rates and greater flexibility in managing international payments.
You can, together with RemitONE and Digit9, create a powerful infrastructure layer for your business to expand without the burden of multiple integrations or bilateral agreements.
This is another step in RemitONE’s ongoing mission to give MSBs faster expansion, smarter routing, and greater operational control.
“We are thrilled to partner with Digit9 as we continue expanding our ecosystem. RemitONE brings an active global base of MSBs worldwide. By connecting their transaction flows into Digit9’s impressive network, our clients can enhance their corridor coverage, allowing them to offer strategic rates to their customers and create more sending options, driving stronger pricing and scalability.” Aamer Abedi, Chief Marketing Officer, RemitONE
“We are excited to partner with RemitONE and support their growing global client base. RemitONE works with active MTOs and fintechs that are driving real cross-border transaction flows, and this collaboration allows us to extend our payout capabilities to a broader network. Together, we are simplifying global expansion for money service businesses by delivering a scalable, compliant, and cost-effective global payment network.” Hashim Rasheed, Head of Business, Digit9
If you’d like to activate or explore how this integration can help you expand globally, then book a free call or get in touch with us at marketing@remitone.com
A new wave of integrations is underway that’s built to give our clients even more reach, efficiency, and a competitive edge. So, stay tuned for more exciting updates.
The Next Era of Cross-Border Payments in 2026
The cross-border payments industry is entering a structural shift. In 2026, growth won’t come from simply moving money faster or cheaper. It will come from building smarter, revenue-generating ecosystems around the transaction.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- How interoperability reduces friction and unlocks cleaner, faster processing
- Revenue-driving add-ons that increase customer lifetime value
- Why digital liquidity tools free up capital and improve margin control
- How AI-driven optimisation protects revenue while lowering operational strain
Let’s look at what’s really shaping the next phase.
1. Interoperability Becomes the Baseline
Cross-border payments still move through a web of banks, wallets, correspondent networks and clearing systems. When those systems aren’t well connected, payments slow down, data gets lost in translation, and manual intervention increases.
In 2026, interoperability is becoming an expectation rather than an advantage. Institutions increasingly require infrastructure that allows them to connect with multiple partners, corridors and services through a unified framework — reducing complexity while enabling faster expansion.
This is why hub-based connectivity models are gaining traction, enabling senders, receivers, payment gateways and verification layers to plug into a single ecosystem instead of operating in silos — an approach we’ve built into our own RemitONE Hub architecture to simplify global connectivity.
Another key enabler of this shift is ISO 20022, the global messaging standard being adopted across major payment networks.
Together, stronger connectivity and standardised messaging enable:
- Scalable multi-corridor expansion without bespoke integrations
- Cleaner data exchange across senders, payout partners and gateways
- Reduced operational friction and exception handling
- Faster reconciliation and improved straight-through processing
Interoperability in 2026 is about building intelligent, unified connectivity that supports growth without multiplying complexity.
2. Value-Added Services That Drive Revenue & Loyalty
Cross-border payments are no longer just about moving money, they’re about the value businesses can unlock beyond each transaction, as showcased in our recent webinar.
Add-ons reduce customer churn and increase customer retention. Instead of being a one-time transfer business can become part of their customers’ financial journey through:
- Prepaid cards – Enable recipients to spend funds instantly on everyday purchases and subscriptions, increasing engagement beyond the initial payout.
- Travel eSIMs – Keep customers connected when travelling, maintaining brand relevance between transfers while opening additional revenue streams.
- Mobile Top-Ups – Offer convenient, low-friction add-ons that encourage repeat usage.
- Loyalty & Rewards Programmes – Incentivise repeat transfers through points-based systems, reducing switching.
Together, these extensions encourage repeat usage, reduce customer switching, and enable money service businesses (MSBs) to generate greater value from their existing customer base without rebuilding core infrastructure.
As pricing pressures intensify, diversification becomes critical. Those who expand their value beyond simple transaction processing will outperform those who don’t.
We offer these add-ons, so if you’d like to simply know more or explore how it can be tailored to your operations, then feel free to book a free call.
3. Digital Liquidity & Tokenised Settlement Rails
Another defining cross-border trend in 2026 is the mainstream use of regulated digital assets for settlement. Institutions are exploring tokenised deposits and regulated stablecoins to improve liquidity management and reduce pre-funding costs.
Traditionally, cross-border payments providers and banks have had to pre-fund accounts in multiple countries to ensure payouts happen instantly. That means keeping large sums of money sitting idle abroad, tying up capital and increasing operational risk.
Now, regulated digital assets, such as tokenised bank deposits and regulated stablecoins, are beginning to change that model. They allow institutions to move value across borders faster and more efficiently, without needing to park large pools of funds in every country.
But beyond cost savings, this infrastructure shift enables:
- Dynamic FX optimisation
- Real-time treasury dashboards
- Monetisable priority settlement options
Instead of simply managing where money sits, institutions can actively optimise how capital is deployed and reduce balances.
4. AI-powered Automation & Compliance
We’re seeing the rise of agentic AI that doesn’t just analyse data but actively makes decisions within rules.
Traditionally, operations teams have had to monitor transaction flows, review compliance alerts, and adjust FX rates. Agentic AI changes that dynamic; it learns from transaction patterns, responds to risk signals in real time, and makes decisions that improve speed, cost efficiency and compliance simultaneously.
It can help:
- Identify the fastest and cheapest payment routes instantly
- Predict potential delays and re-route transactions before they fail
- Monitor liquidity across multiple accounts and currencies
- Optimise foreign exchange rates in real time
- Identify fraud patterns that humans or static systems would miss
This isn’t about replacing people. It’s about removing operational friction so teams can focus on growth to stay ahead of the competition.
At RemitONE, our AI-powered tools have been developed around the real operational pressures MSBs face, from reducing failed transactions and improving FX outcomes, to easing compliance workload. They’re designed to integrate smoothly into existing systems, helping teams streamline workflows without disruption.
If you’d like to explore it more, book a call or see it in action here: https://www.remitone.com/ai-cross-border-payments-1/
Next Steps
This is a pivotal moment in the industry. As margins tighten and competition increases, the businesses that innovate beyond basic transfers will move ahead, while others gradually fall behind.
If you’re exploring how to evolve your cross-border strategy, we’re always open to a conversation. Share where you’re seeing operational pressure or growth challenges, and we can explore what smarter infrastructure could look like for you.
You can book a call or reach out to us at marketing@remitone.com
