A Visa survey has found that digital payments are the most popular way to send money outside the country, with 23% of those surveyed have done so and 65% saying they planned to for this year’s holiday season, according to a press release Friday (Dec. 17).
Visa notes that these findings go along with the general digital trend worldwide, adding that digital payments have opened new avenues for U.S. consumers to more easily support their international family members.
The release notes that globally, in total, there are around 800 million people that receive money from loved ones to pay for things as basic as food, utilities or education.
Ruben Salazar, global head of Visa Direct, said he himself had faced the complexity of sending money internationally. He added that while it was a much more difficult process to go through in decades past, there’s a much easier way to do it.
“As cross border money transfers become increasingly digital, we built Visa Direct which connects 5 billion cards and bank accounts in 200 geographies and 160 currencies to help drastically simplify and accelerate the process of sending funds back home and ultimately improve the lives of migrant workers across the globe,” Salazar said in the release.
Western Union plans to work alongside major Ukraine financial institutions and in the Commonwealth of Independent States to achieve more cross-border payments, as well. PYMNTS writes that Western Union will work with Nova Poshta, the biggest Ukraine postal network, and through Monobank.
Western Union has also rolled out cross-border pay services in banks in Russia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, and several countries have added new digital services, allowing for easier app-based cross-border payments.
Read more: Western Union Teams With Ukraine, CIS Institutions on Cross-Border Payments
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