In a world where cross-border payments are becoming more of an integral part of the global economy, Mastercard has highlighted this trend in its latest report.
Titled ‘Making money go further’, the paper lists the key challenges that people sending money abroad face, as well as making the prediction that the number of people doing so will significantly increase over the next 12 months.
Some of the obstacles faced when it comes to international transactions include late or failed payments, the risk of fraud, and “knock-on effects of being unable to support their own in-country payments”.
To come to this conclusion, Mastercard has surveyed more than 11,000 consumers and SMEs across 15 different markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and the Americas.
According to the payments giant, 50% of the people who have made a cross-border transaction in the last year are thinking of moving abroad to live and work over the next three years.
A total of 41% of all respondents are also expecting to increase the number of international transactions they will make in the next 12 months, with several factors taken into consideration when planning to do so – level of fees, delivery speed and simplicity of the experience.
Alan Marquard, Executive Vice President, Transfer Solutions, Mastercard, said: “The past few years have proven that our global economy depends on seamless connections — of people, raw materials, goods and services.
“Among these important connections, the ability to make and receive payments quickly and easily is crucial, but failed, late and fraudulent payments risk undermining trust in these crucial networks. We must come together to enable money to move more safely, simply, reliably and transparently.”