Joining Forces for a Better User Experience
Since its acquisition by PayPal two years ago, the Xoom international money transfer platform has experienced remarkable growth in terms of both usage and capabilities. The number of active Xoom users shot up by over 30 percent, the amount of monthly transactions more than doubled, and twice as many people as before use its bill pay service. The scalability and extra resources provided by PayPal have enabled Xoom to add 12 new receiver countries last year, bringing the total to 67, and to offer higher transfer limits that can attract a different group of customers, such as people buying property or paying tuition abroad.
The official daily limit increased from $3,000 to $10,000 per household, and Xoom accepts special requests for even higher amounts. According to Xoom GM Julian King, “This was a case where we were able to both better serve our current customer base and extend our base out to customers who may not have considered us in the past because we weren’t able to meet their needs at the higher end of the digital money transfer spectrum.” King expects the $10,000 maximum to grow with time.
Xoom’s other new capabilities include a “request money” feature and full integration with PayPal’s online platform. While a PayPal account is not required to use Xoom, individuals who already have one can seamlessly carry over personal and financial data. Funds transferred via Xoom can be deposited to a PayPal or regular bank account, or picked up as cash. So users of either platform have more payment options now than they did prior to the acquisition.
Democratizing Money Transfers in Developing Nations
While Xoom’s leadership is thrilled by the scale that the platform has achieved, they are most conscious of what this success means for their customers. With access to inexpensive and convenient ways to send money online, people can more easily meet important needs. “What we do is much more than a transaction,” stated King “Everything we do touches people’s lives. It’s the money people are using to eat, to pay for the doctor, to pay the water bill without spending an entire day in line. What we do helps people collectively help their families.”
Xoom makes its biggest impact on the people of India, Mexico, and the Philippines, which is not surprising considering that these countries supply the US with most of its migrant workers. Judging by the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief released this past spring, these are the places for money transfer providers like Xoom to be. India is the world’s largest remittance receiver, with inflows totaling $62.7 billion last year. Even though the vast majority of developing nations suffered a decrease in incoming remittances last year, Mexico and the Philippines were two of the exceptions. There was a gain of almost 9 percent for Mexico, and almost 5 percent for the Philippines.
One of the reasons Xoom and PayPal chose each other is their shared vision of democratizing financial services in developing nations like these. King says that the idea of bringing its affordable mobile money transfers to PayPal’s 200 million users is what gets them out of bed each morning.
- There are several options when it comes to international money transfer providers. Find the cheapest way to send money online to India, Mexico, and the Philippines.
