The global remittance industry has seen strong growth in recent years, fueled by expanding migrant worker populations and the rise of cheaper, faster transfer services. As traditional corridors mature, new frontier markets for international money transfers are opening up across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Serving these emerging corridors presents both opportunities and challenges for payment providers.

One development that is helping tap into the promise of new remittance flows is the growth of small currency exchanges. These localized FX businesses play a key role in converting funds to the local note in areas dominated by less widely-traded currencies. By bridging the “last mile” between international money transfer networks and remote communities, they are broadening access to crucial remittance lifelines.

Africa in particular has seen a boom in micro-exchange startups targeting transfers between urban expat populations and rural relatives. Countries like Ghana, Uganda and Nigeria now have extensive networks of small FX vendors facilitating borderless transactions. The lower barriers to entry have encouraged many entrepreneurs to launch brokerages dealing in currencies like the Cedi, Shilling and Naira.

Similar dynamics are unfolding in parts of Asia where currencies from Sri Lanka to the Philippines remain relatively unknown outside their borders. Exchange businesses in countries like the Philippines allow delivery of funds directly to regional bank accounts instead of just big cities. This brings financial inclusion to more remote locales reliant on inward remittances.

As global payment providers expand into new frontiers, partnering with established local exchanges can fast-track rural reach. The exchanges’ institutional knowledge of local regulations, languages and communities smooths onboarding of agents in hard-to-access areas. Their expertise in tracking currency volatility also mitigates FX risks that hamper traditional money-transfer scaleups.

Overall, small currency exchanges are a catalyst driving the expansion of remittance corridors within and beyond emerging markets. By tackling the last mile challenge, they are improving financial inclusion and access to funds for underbanked communities reliant on migrant wage earners abroad. Their impact is set to grow as remittance flows continue shifting to new growth markets in Asia, Africa and beyond.

KVB’s remittance services cover G10 currencies (USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD, CHF, AUD, NZD, SEK, DKK) and the below small currencies: ARS, BRL, IDR, INR, MYR, MXN, PHP, PKR, VND and more. You can check out for details on their website.

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