New Consumer Research: Mobile Money Set to Disrupt International Remittances Market

With a high percentage of respondents dissatisfied with traditional services, 83 percent of respondents willing to transfer money overseas using a mobile phone

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 21, 2016 -- Amdocs (Nasdaq:DOX), the leading provider of customer experience solutions, today released the results of a new survey examining consumer attitudes towards different ways of transferring money internationally. With the World Bank citing that the international remittance market is expected to reach $610 billion¹ this year it represents an attractive, fast-emerging revenue stream for mobile financial services providers.

The survey finds that a large majority of respondents (82 percent) using services currently offered by existing players such as money transfer operators (MTOs) and banks, are dissatisfied and that 83 percent of respondents in developed countries ̶ United States, United Kingdom, and Germany ̶ are willing to send money internationally using mobile money, provided they are offered a service that is more secure, convenient, faster, and competitively priced.

Conducted by analyst and consultancy firm Juniper Research on behalf of Amdocs, the survey questioned nearly 3,000 international money transfer service users from migrant communities in the US, UK, and Germany.  The study focused on the users of seven main remittance corridors: US-Mexico, US-Rest of CALA, US-Philippines, US-India, US-Vietnam, UK-Nigeria and Germany- Turkey. These corridors account for $78.6 billion in remittances annually¹.

Key findings include:

• Consumers dissatisfied with traditional services, but unaware of alternatives: More than 60 percent of all respondents use MTOs for sending money. However, the survey reveals a high level of dissatisfaction amongst MTO service users, with 82 percent saying they had one or more issues with their MTO, including cost and speed of transfer. Almost half (47 percent) of all respondents cite speed of money transfer as a major challenge with their current provider, including 48 percent of those who send via MTOs, 49 percent of those who prefer a bank transfer and 46 percent who use the Internet. Interestingly, 65 percent of those who list cost as the primary cause of dissatisfaction transfer their money via MTOs, one of the more expensive options. This suggests a lack of awareness of existing alternatives, which may well be cheaper, faster, and more secure than the services offered by MTOs.
• International remittance users are willing to shift to mobile money for their international transfers:  More than 83 percent of respondents show a strong willingness to use their mobile phone as a means of sending money internationally. When current user base of money transfer operators (MTOs) is considered, this percentage rises to 92 percent, suggesting that a mobile offering, suitably priced and marketed could have a substantial disruptive effect.
• Strong consumer interest in an international mobile money offering if priced at $5 per transaction or less: According to the survey, 41 percent of those respondents willing to use a mobile international remittance service say that they would be prepared to pay up to $4 per transaction, with a further 21 percent prepared to pay up to $5.
• Cost and security are the main factors influencing how consumers send money: More than a third of all respondents say the cost of money transfer and security are the primary factors determining their choice of money transfer provider. Noticeably, in the Germany-Turkey corridor, 50 percent of respondents cite security as the main influencer, and only 22 percent state cost as the main influencer. This corridor is less price sensitive due to the lower charges offered by the existing options – a third of users pay less than $5 per transactions. The other significant factors influencing consumer decisions are convenience, and transaction time.

“The findings of the survey demonstrate a clear opportunity for international mobile money services to disrupt the money transfer landscape and provide much needed competition within this arena,” said Dr. Windsor Holden, head of forecasting and consultancy at Juniper Research. “With consumers citing cost as a primary factor for service selection, the emergence of a lower-priced alternative is also likely to act as a catalyst for overall growth in the scale of official remittance.” 

“Service providers who are able to deliver an innovative, convenient and competitively priced solution can become a viable alternative to the traditional international remittance providers,” said Patrick McGrory, division president for Amdocs’ emerging offerings. “Amdocs mobile financial services solution enables mobile and payment service providers to digitize and mobilize these services so they can quickly tap into new revenue streams by delivering convenient, secure, multi-channel and affordable mobile financial services - the types of innovative services that win customer loyalty in The New World of Customer Experience.”

Supporting Resources

• Access the full research findings in the whitepaper “The World of Connected Money: International Remittance Around the Globe”
• Learn more about Amdocs Mobile Financial Services
• Keep up with Amdocs news by visiting the company’s website
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About Juniper Research

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, delivering consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary. Our clients include some of the biggest companies across the Telecom, Technology and Financial sectors, including Tier 1 Operators, Service Providers, OEMs, Banks and Payment Service Providers. Our mission is to provide unrivalled depth and quality in the analysis we deliver, and identify the next big opportunity for our clients. We are quoted widely in global media and have a presence at major tech shows across the globe. Our Commerce & Money service is recognized as the leading authority on online and mobile payments, showcasing the future trends, opportunities and leading market players.

For more information visit Juniper Research at www.juniperresearch.com. 

About Amdocs

Amdocs is the market leader in customer experience software solutions and services for the world’s largest communications, entertainment and media service providers.  Our portfolio powers The New World of Customer Experience™, where a wide array of innovative and personalized services are delivered seamlessly to end users, regardless of device or network. For more than 30 years, Amdocs solutions, which include BSS, OSS, network control and optimization, coupled with our professional and managed services, have accelerated business value for our customers by streamlining complex operating environments, reducing costs and speeding time to market for new products and services.  Amdocs and our more than 24,000 employees serve customers in over 90 countries. Listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, Amdocs had revenue of $3.6 billion in fiscal 2015.

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For more information, visit Amdocs at www.amdocs.com.

Amdocs’ Forward-Looking Statement

This press release includes information that constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about Amdocs’ growth and business results in future quarters. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be obtained or that any deviations will not be material. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic conditions, Amdocs’ ability to grow in the business markets that it serves, Amdocs’ ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses, adverse effects of market competition, rapid technological shifts that may render the Company's products and services obsolete, potential loss of a major customer, our ability to develop long-term relationships with our customers, and risks associated with operating businesses in the international market. Amdocs may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future; however, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These and other risks are discussed at greater length in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015 filed on December 10, 2015.  

¹ Migration and Development Brief, The World Bank, April 2015

Media Contact:
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