Mohit Davar, expert with several years of experience in managing and advising money transfer and crypto companies and ex-Chairman of the International Association of Money Transfer Networks (IAMTN), recently spoke with Samee Zafar (Director London) about the competitive landscape in the money transfer business and the future role of stable coins and cryptocurrencies.

1. What are the key trends in the money transfer competitive landscape? Are the banks being out-competed?

One of the key trends is the continued acceleration of digital remittances. With the receive side networks and general payment rails being commoditised (even MoneyGram and Western Union are now white labelling their networks), it is now very easy to launch a remittance or cross-border service. This is a far cry from the days when I was running a remittance company where the agent contracts were the holy grail and it was all about exclusivity and protecting your agent networks! We are also seeing this enable other providers like Telcos and banks to consume these rails through an API and integrate them into their payment offerings for their clients. Banks are generally a mixed bag, I would say there is more acceptance and embracing of remittance services in the emerging markets, primarily receive-side than on the developed/send-side markets.

We are also starting to see the bundling of other financial services with remittances, like insurance, lending, etc., and I think this trend will accelerate. I look forward to seeing stable coins and crypto generally play a more significant role in remittances.

2. Do you think crypto, especially stable coins, will be leveraged significantly for international money transfers for businesses instead of the current correspondent banking channels in the future?

Yes, I really do believe this. However, a lot depends on how the regulatory environment evolves. This is the missing piece because to have mass adoption from the various stakeholders, we need a framework, which doesn’t exist today. I think for the first time, we can transfer value and information together. This opens up considerable opportunities to streamline payments, free of trillions of dollars locked up in liquidity (pre-funding) and disrupt the old arcade correspondent banking channels over time.

3. What are your hobbies, how do you distract yourself from work?

I like playing golf and travelling but I am not sure with Wi-Fi now on planes I can really never distract myself from work!

4. What are you reading at the moment?

Actually, nothing so far, I used to read a lot more, especially legal fiction. However, now with so much choice on Netflix, Youtube etc. I spend more time watching stuff. I just finished watching a series Succession on Prime and already have a few others lined up!

The content of this article does not reflect the official opinion of Edgar, Dunn & Company. The information and views expressed in this publication belong solely to the author(s).

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