42% of Mexicans who send remittances to the country use digital media

Mexico City. The adoption of digital means to send and receive remittances by compatriots living abroad and their relatives living here is increasing, as 64 percent of people who send money do so through applications and 59 percent of recipients use this means, according to a new Visa report.

The annual report The Journey of Money: Adoption of Digital Remittances in 2024 also indicates that 42 percent of compatriots who send remittances to Mexico do so digitally from a physical location and the proportion of those who receive them this way is 34 percent.

“This is significantly more than cash,” as only 6 percent of compatriots send their funds this way and 5 percent of recipients receive their funds in physical money.

“Remittances are a lifeline for many people in Mexico and are vitally important to the prosperity of many of our local communities. While our new research shows an incredible acceleration in digital remittances, there is still much to be done collectively to make digital remittances more accessible and affordable for Mexicans,” said Breno Andrade, Money Movement Leader for Visa Latin America and the Caribbean.

According to the report, the frequency of remittance use in Mexico is high, as almost two out of three people who have sent money and almost three out of four people who have received money do so at least once a year.

Visa details that high fees and problems calculating exchange rates are the main barriers that top the list for sending and receiving remittances through digital transfers.

However, he points out, more Mexican users of digital remittances have not experienced problems when sending (37 percent of respondents) or receiving money (44 percent), “which indicates that the digital transfer process is improving.”

He mentions that digital payments are considered the fastest payment method among 7 out of 10 Mexican senders and recipients who send or receive resources, and they consider that the main benefits of sending or receiving digital remittances are “ease of use, privacy and security, and making life easier for family and friends.”

According to Visa, perceptions of digital transfers by those who have not yet adopted them are positive, as half of remittance users in Mexico are aware of digital transfers “and 62 percent are likely to try them.”

“Nearly two in five remittance users have sent five thousand pesos or more in 2023. Half of them sent less than three thousand five hundred pesos to another country. Of those who have sent money to another country in Mexico, the United States is the country to which the most has been sent,” Visa added.