MoneyTO and Smith&Smith launched cash pickup remittances to Moldova
The London based remittance operator MoneyTO, in cooperation with the Romanian company Smith&Smith, launched cash pickup remittances from the UK to Moldova in euros.
The money may be transferred in GBP at https://www.moneyto.co.uk or via the MoneyTO mobile app. The transfers are paid by Visa or Mastercard. Considering the convenience for the clients, both the website and the MoneyTO app are available in Romanian, which can be selected in the settings.
One can get the transfers in Moldova in a split second in one of the 173 service points of Agroindbank, Smith&Smith's partner in Moldova . In order to receive the transfer, the addressee must present their ID at the bank branch and tell the operator the code, name, and surname of the sender, as well as the amount and currency of the transfer.
“Moldova is one of the key destinations for MoneyTO. We are in close contact with the Moldovan diaspora in the UK and, analysing its needs, we are constantly looking for new, more beneficial solutions for the customers. The cooperation with Smith&Smith company, successfully operating in the field of money transfers for more than 20 years, was yet another step. Cash withdrawal transactions are one of the most popular ways of cross-border remittances in Moldova. Many recipients prefer this option, the older generation in particular. So, we, as a team of flexible modern services, set ourselves the task of ensuring the maximum availability of financial services to clients with different preferences,” says Galina Selicka, CEO of MoneyTO.
Currently, nearly 1 million Moldovan citizens work abroad according to various sources. The remittances they send to their families account for 15%-30% of the country's GDP. $1.486 billion was sent to Moldova from abroad in 2020 which is 21.6% higher than the previous year. In 2021, the volume of transfers grew by 8.4% and reached $1.611 billion. The UK accounts for about 8% of this amount.
“Considering the importance of this area of work, we are trying to make our services as beneficial and convenient as possible together with MoneyTO. Our company has high hopes for productive cooperation with MoneyTO and plans to expand it by jointly launching money transfers from the UK to Romania”, comments Cosmin Brendea, business development and marketing manager at Smith&Smith.
The representatives of the Moldovan diaspora in the UK have already appreciated the convenience and benefits of joint transfers. Rada Turcanu moved to Birmingham over 10 years ago. She works as a realtor in a real estate agency and regularly sends money to her parents who currently live in Moldova. “My parents are over seventy now, they are not able to use online services and prefer to get the money in cash. I usually send them 200-250 pounds a month. Obviously, it is more reasonable to choose the operator with the highest pay-out amount. I personally have not yet found a more profitable option than a transfer to Moldova through MoneyTO. I can save on fees and the exchange rate this way because every euro my parents receive will improve their lives”, says Rada.
The fee for a transfer to Moldova from MoneyTO via Smith&Smith is 0.49% of the transaction amount (minimum £1). To calculate the cost of a transfer with different companies, one must also take into account the exchange rate used by the money transfer system. Let’s take, for example, a transfer of 100 pounds, and compare the total amounts that the addressee can receive. Taking into account the fee and the MoneyTO exchange rate as of 20.05.22 the client will receive 113.45 EUR*. Money transfer with cash withdrawal through the MoneyTo system is more than 3% more profitable for the client than any other offer on the market.
Yet another advantage of MoneyTO that many clients claim is the ease of sending money from the UK. The MoneyTO mobile app can be downloaded for free in the AppStore and Google Play.
“The mobile app enables us to send the money transfers online in the most convenient manner. It is hard to visit the money transfer office in the middle of the working day, however, in this way, I spent only a few minutes at any convenient time and the money is already in Moldova. My wife prefers to get cash, as the money can immediately be spent on necessities”, says Alexandru Muntean, a tour guide from Southampton.
According to a survey conducted by IOM, a quarter of the households in Moldova receive remittances, and for half of them, remittances account for about 50% of income. Money sent to Moldova reaches 70-80% of the total volume of transfers in MoneyTO.
*The research has been made on 20.05.2022 among 6 money transfers companies on the UK market.
