Could you introduce Merchantrade Asia to our readers? What is the array of financial services you provide within the Asian remittances market?
Merchantrade is a leading home-grown Money Services Business (MSB) operator, conducting remittance, money changing and wholesale currency services. Through its established branch network and online platform Merchantrade provides consumers with easy access to a secure, reliable and fast channel for currency exchange, money transfers and payments across borders, seven days a week.
In partnership with international wire transfer operators, foreign banks and other established payment centres, Merchantrade’s remittance network comprises 234,000 pay-out points in 200 countries worldwide.
The company has a solid track record in the money services business for almost a decade. In 2015, the company moved over RM 4.5 billion (around 1 billion USD) in remittance globally, making it the fastest growing MSB operator in Malaysia.
What are the top destinations of choice for Asian migrants, and therefore the largest sources for remittances?
According to the World Bank, top destination countries for Asian migrants are the USA, the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, as well as inter-Asia and inter-ASEAN countries like Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Singapore and Malaysia.
Most of the migrants tend to be from India, China, Korea, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam Cambodia and Nepal. Key reasons driving migration to these destinations are labor opportunities, study, marriage and permanent settlements.
In Malaysia, the Asian migrant population comprises mainly of Indonesians (30%), Bangladeshi (22%), Nepalese (18%), Indians (10%), and Filipinos (5%). The population consists of both professionals primarily working in the services and IT sector, and foreign workers employed in the construction, manufacturing and agricultural industries. With a number of governmental infrastructure projects in the Malaysian pipeline, we foresee encouraging growth in migrant worker numbers.
In your opinion, what are the key challenges related to remittance transfers to and from Asia?
Key challenges related to remittance transfers to and from Asia are:
- Government policy and geopolitical risk and its consequent impact on foreign worker regulation and migration flows across Asian countries
- Informal services providers and the provision of services via illegal remittance channels which are notably prevalent in rural and underserved areas
- Changes to national regulatory requirements for licensees of remittance services
This year you have received the Florin Award for Remittance Breakthrough Transfers. What, would you say, are the main elements that make Merchantrade Asia stand out from other services?
Merchantrade Asia is the only Malaysian company offering a seamless remittance payment customer journey that is integrated with FPX, a convenient and secure online payment solution that allows real-time debiting of a customer’s internet banking account from multiple banks in Malaysia. This places us ahead of our competitors who use a 2 step approach for making online payments.
We have also acknowledged the shift in consumer behaviour to go digital via the launch of mobile applications to complement our online products, i.e. e-Remit (mobile remittance – a first in Malaysia) and e-Forex (mobile money changing).
Furthermore, we have in place a segmented marketing strategy that specifically addresses the needs of each targeted segment within our diverse customer base.
2016 has been an exciting year for money transfers/ remittance industry. What do you think 2017 is going to bring in terms of new ways to reach customers and markets to cater to?
The rise of fintech and its innovative capabilities presents an array of collaborative opportunities for our company to explore as well as target new customer segments, from the traditional focus on remittance for foreign workers. Further, advancements in security and customer verification are notably a few areas that we have identified that could potentially transform the way we do business; improving the end customer journey, especially with the increasing shift of the business to digital.
In addition, the growing SME market also presents a lucrative business opportunity in the payments space; driven by the accelerated business growth and the inter-Asian and inter-ASEAN trade.
Merchantrade Asia won Remittance Breakthrough Transfers Florin Award at the Global Payments Summit 2016, held in Singapore (12 – 13 October). You can meet the organizers at their upcoming event, European Payment Summit (EPS), 8- 9 March 2017 in Hague. EPS offers a unique 2-day program featuring key developments ‘for-by professionals’ in the payments/transaction space, combined with key sessions on international security & fraud.
Created in 2010, the Florin Awards aim at stimulating innovation in the transaction services industry by supporting innovative startups and assisting the promotion of their products and solutions.
About Sarveswaran Raja Gopal
Sarveswaran Raja Gopal is Executive Vice President, Money Services Business & Payments of Merchantrade Asia and is part of the executive management of the Group. Sarveswaran, a systems engineer joined the Company in 2002 when the business was focused on providing telecommunication solutions.
As Merchantrade developed the money services business, he led several key positions including Corporate Planning & Business Development as well as Project & Business Development for the new entities. Sarveswaran continues to drive innovations in electronic money transfers and extend the company’s remittance channels, to ensure the best possible payment network globally.
About Merchantrade Asia
Merchantrade is the largest MSB agent network in Malaysia with more than 200 agents and over 300 agent locations nationwide, 70 of its own money services branches and 2 wholesale currency branches.
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