Unpacking Remitly’s membership service Remitly One
This week saw Remitly launch its membership service, Remitly One, at its one-off event Remitly Reimagine. But what extra details has the money transfer provider shared and how do the features compare to its competitors?
While Remitly previously announced some features – namely its send now, pay later solution Flex and its fiat and stablecoin-holding Wallet – when it announced Remitly One in its Q2 earnings, the information the company has shared in this new update provides further details about both additional products and the membership as a whole.
The service is available for a monthly fee of $9.99, with initial products and features available to “select eligible” US customers from now, with a full US rollout by the end of this year. The company also plans to expand Remitly One beyond the US, but has not given a specific timeframe for this as yet.
Both Remitly Flex and Remitly Wallet are available in their most basic form to non-One customers, although non-membership users of the send now, pay later service will see payments delivered in three days rather than instantly. Wallet, meanwhile, will initially be restricted to USD, with members able to earn cash rewards on balances; the ability to hold other currencies and USDC stablecoins will be added for One customers later this month.
From launch, Remitly One will also come with a digital debit card so customers have the option of spending their Wallet balance, while members can also earn cashback on key actions, including setting up or repaying Flex payments or adding money to the app.
Remitly also plans to launch a credit solution from early next year, which is specifically designed to help migrant customers build a credit history in the US – a common challenge when they initially arrive. There are also plans to add further rewards as well as third-party benefits such as credit monitoring and identify protection.
Speaking at a J.P. Morgan-hosted investor call ahead of the Reimagine event, Remitly CEO Matt Oppenheimer framed the product “as an umbrella with different segments that will be attracted to different parts of the value proposition and product offering”, likening it to Amazon Prime, but with a focus on financial products for a set of customers that he argues have historically been underserved.
“Customers are willing to pay for it because it’s not something that some of the other send now, pay later providers or other money transfer providers can do, because they don’t have the unique relationship and data that we have on our customers to bridge that gap,” he said.
In terms of product range, while every major competitor offers at least one of the products within the Remitly One umbrella, no other major players offer all of the solutions, with neobank Revolut, which typically targets a different customer profile to Remitly, being the closest.
How is Remitly approaching pricing in its major markets?
