Competitor surpasses Western Union in digital money transfer arena
The retail money transfers space continues to generate substantial revenue, but the focus is increasingly shifting towards digital remittances. This transition is driven by the growing adoption of mobile wallets, real-time payments, and digital remittances, creating a robust and rapidly expanding market.
Key players in the industry, including Western Union, Remitly, Wise, Intermex, Euronet (Ria and Xe), and MoneyGram, are benefiting from these trends.
Market Growth and Trends
The global digital payments market is projected to reach approximately $20 trillion in transaction value by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 13.6%. This broad digital payments growth underpins the increases in digital money transfers.
Mobile wallets are a significant growth driver, with a market size estimated to be around $2.77 trillion in 2025 and anticipated CAGR between 27–32% in the coming years. Over 5 billion users globally engage with mobile wallets, making them essential for seamless personal and merchant payments.
For digital cross-border remittances specifically, the market size is expected to reach $428 billion by 2025, with the active user base growing from 57 million in 2021 to 95 million by 2025—a 66% increase. This directly benefits companies like Western Union, MoneyGram, Remitly, Wise, and Ria that operate in cross-border money transfers.
The adoption of real-time payments (RTP) is transforming digital money flows, with transaction volumes projected to rise from 2 billion RTP transactions in 2023 to over 575 billion by 2028 globally. Faster payment infrastructure enhances service offerings for these companies and creates opportunities for instant merchant and payroll payments.
The Global Findex 2025 report shows substantial digital payment adoption, especially in developing economies where the share of adults making or receiving digital payments nearly doubled from 34% in 2014 to 62% in 2024. This expanded financial inclusion fuels growth for remittance and digital transfer providers targeting emerging markets.
Consumer preferences are leaning towards convenience, security (biometric authentication surpassing 50% adoption in wallets), and integrated loyalty/rewards programs, which companies like Wise and Remitly can leverage to enhance user retention.
E-commerce growth further drives usage of digital transfers and wallets, with platforms integrating payment services from providers like Western Union, MoneyGram, and Euronet’s Xe for cross-border commerce payments.
Current Trends and Company Performance
The competition in the digital remittances market is intensifying, with Remitly and Wise overtaking Western Union in recent quarters. Intermex reported a 63% year-on-year (YoY) increase in digital transactions, while Euronet Money Transfers reported a 20% YoY increase in direct-to-consumer digital transactions in Q3 2023.
Western Union's total revenue growth has recently returned to positive after over a year of consistent drops. However, the gap between Western Union's digital revenues and those of Remitly and Wise widened significantly in Q3 2023. Western Union's branded digital revenues as a share of its overall C2C business have remained at 21%, down from a high of 22% in Q1 23.
Wise and Remitly continue to see strong growth, which has allowed them to outpace Western Union's digital division. Establishing a strong digital remittances groundwork is crucial for companies' long-term strategies.
In summary, these data points indicate a robust, rapidly expanding market with strong tailwinds from technology adoption, consumer behavior shifts, and broader financial inclusion, offering significant growth opportunities for the leading digital money transfer firms mentioned. The trends suggest positive growth trajectories for Western Union, Remitly, Wise, Intermex, Euronet’s Money Transfers, and MoneyGram through 2025 and beyond.
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