Payment service provider Voca and finance firm Citigroup are to offer banks access to international money transfer services through a new remittance platform for consumer money transfers.
Customers will be able to make low-cost international remittances from current accounts through the internet, telephone banking or branches.
Research carried out by Voca and Citigroup highlighted a demand for a low-cost, secure and accessible money transfer platform accessible from customers' own bank accounts, competitive with high street money transfer operators.
Payments will be cleared by Voca and passed on to Citigroup's global payments network. Transactions will then be converted into the chosen destination currency before being transferred as an account credit, cheque or cash payment to the beneficiary in the destination country.
The service is expected to significantly increase use of retail banks to send money abroad and will be offered initially to over 40 countries covering an estimated 85 per cent of UK outbound remittance flows.
The service is expected to increase cross-selling opportunities to existing customers as well as attracting new customers.
‘There is a huge demand for an easier, low-cost way of sending money abroad, and this service offers a great way for banks to compete in this market,’ said Marion King, chief executive of Voca.
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