Remittance among the unbanked and migrant workers is big business. The World Bank estimates that officially recorded remittances to low- and middle-income countries reached US$466 billion in 2017, an increase of 8.5 percent over US$429 billion in 2016.
Residents of low- and middle-income countries also endure high remittance charges—and it is only getting pricier every year. The same report showed that the global average price of sending US$200 was 7.1 percent in Q1 of 2018, more than twice as high as the Sustainable Development Goal target of 3 percent.